The value of multiple rapid swallows during preoperative esophageal manometry before laparoscopic antireflux surgery

When multiple swallows are rapidly administered, esophageal peristalsis is inhibited, and pronounced lower esophageal sphincter relaxation ensues. After the last swallow of the series, a robust contraction sequence results. The authors hypothesize that multiple rapid swallows (MRS) may have value in predicting esophageal transit symptoms in patients undergoing laparoscopic antireflux surgery (LARS).

Records of patients undergoing esophageal high-resolution manometry (HRM) before LARS were evaluated. The evaluation of MRS included adequate inhibitory response during swallows and the contraction pattern after MRS. Dysphagia was scored based on a product of symptom frequency and severity using 5-point Likert scales. A composite dysphagia score comprised the sum of scores for solid and liquid dysphagia, and a score of 4 or higher was considered clinically significant. The normal and abnormal MRS responses of patients with preoperative, early, and late postoperative dysphagia were compared with those of patients with no dysphagia.

In this study, 63 patients (mean age, 60.3 ± 1.7 years, 48 women) undergoing HRM before LARS successfully performed MRS (median, 5 swallows; longest interval between swallows, 3.2 ± 0.1 s). After MRS, 14 patients (22.2 %) had an intact peristaltic sequence. Complete failure of peristalsis was seen in 21 (33.3 %), and incomplete esophageal inhibition in 25 (39.7 %) of the remaining patients. When stratified by presence or absence of dysphagia, 58.3 % of the subjects without dysphagia had a normal MRS response, whereas 83.3 % had formation of peristaltic segments after MRS. In contrast, only 14 % of the subjects with dysphagia had a normal MRS response (p ≤ 0.003 vs. the subjects with no dysphagia). Abnormal MRS responses were more prevalent in the patients with any preoperative and late postoperative dysphagia (p = 0.04 across groups) and in those with clinically significant dysphagia (p = 0.08 across groups).

High-resolution manometry with MRS helps to predict dysphagia in subjects undergoing preoperative esophageal function testing before LARS.