On the Treatment of Esophageal Diverticula

A follow up study has been made on 31 patients with hypopharyngeal pouch operated during the years 1951–60 and on 8 patients from the same period which have not been operated. The patients have been interviewed about their symptoms and X-rayed. Of the operated group, six have died of other diseases, twelve are without any complaints, nine have mild and four more pronounced symptoms. One patient concludes that the operation has not made her better. The X-ray findings were not exactly correlated to the symptoms of the patients. In the non-operated group the roentgenograms did not show any increase in size of the smallest diverticulas during a ten-year period. It is concluded that the etiology of hypopharyngeal pouches is unclear, that cases in stage I should be treated conservatively, cases in stage II or III operated by a one stage lateral pharyngotomy with excision of the pouch with or without division of the cricopharyngeal muscle.