New Delhi [India] July 22 (ANI): The Department of Gastroenterology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, successfully treated a 6-year-old patient who could not swallow food for almost 3 years, as she became the youngest patient to recover after undergoing POEM (Per Oral Endoscopic Myotomy) procedure.

New Delhi [India], October 22 (ANI): Achalasia Cardia is a debilitating disease that affects the food pipe, also called the esophagus. A recent advancement called POEM or Per Oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) has dramatically improved the treatment outcomes of this complex disorder.

New Delhi Oct 22 PTI A leading private facility in Delhi on Friday claimed that it has done 375 special procedures in the last five years to treat achalasia cardia a rare and debilitating disease which affects a persons food pipeThe Sir Ganga Ram Hospital SGRH in a statement said a recent advancement called POEM Per Oral Endoscopic Myotomy has dramatically improved the treatment outcomes of this complex disorderThe Institute of Liver Gastroenterology and Pancreaticobiliary Sciences ILGPS at the SGRH has consistently been at the forefront of performing and pioneering POEM procedures in north India hospital authorities said and claimed that doctors at the facility have performed 375 POEM procedures over the last five yearsThese patients were in the age group of 14-90 with mean age of 47 years and comprised 43 per cent females and 57 per cent males doctors saidAchalasia cardia affects the food pipe also called the oesophagus and leads to problem in swallowingThe oesophagus performs a vital function of transporting the food into the stomach for digestion A valve like muscle called lower esophageal sphincter LES is present between the oesophagus and the stomach which permits a one-way transit of oesophageal content into the stomach doctors saidAccording to Dr Anil Arora chairman ILGPS at the hospital In achalasia cardia the LES fails to relax during swallowing and hence food cannot enter the stomach and gets stuck up in the food pipe As a result patients with achalasia cardia have difficulty in swallowing develop chest pain followed by vomiting out of the swallowed foodThe symptoms can be devastating with most patients suffering from loss of weight and poor quality of life he saidThe biggest enigma in diagnosis of this rare condition which occurs in one in 100000 individuals is that the disease is often missed initially and is mistakenly diagnosed as gastroesophageal reflux disease called GERD which is very common condition prevalent in one-fifth of the population as the symptoms of chest pain vomiting and regurgitation of food are equally prevalent in both diseases with diagrammatically opposite treatment he saidThis is where a good and meticulous history of the patient coupled with barium studies endoscopy and high-resolution manometry studies of oesophagus come handy in making a proper diagnosis and selecting the appropriate treatment modality the doctor saidAccording to Dr Shrihari Anikhindi consultant ILGPS at the hospital Among the various treatment options available for achalasia cardia POEM has now become the preferred treatment option due to its minimally invasive non-surgical nature and rapid and almost complete symptom relief with excellent outcomes In POEM the non-relaxing LES is cut from within the cavity of the oesophagus using endoscopy he saidArora said the entire procedure takes around 1-15 hours and is performed under general anesthesia and hence is painless and quite comfortable for the patient Most patients are able to resume diet from the very next day and are discharged within 48 hours PTI KND TDS TDS