Injecção intralesional de betametasona nas estenoses benignas do esófago

Intralesional steroid injection has been used in benign oesophageal strictures to improve the results of dilatation. Most studies use triamcinolone, only a few have reported using betamethasone. Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination of dilatation and intralesional betamethasone injection in benign oesophageal strictures. Methods: Cases of benign oesophageal strictures treated with dilatation and betamethasone injection between January 1st 1998 and December 31st 2004 were retrospectively analysed. Thirty-one patients (21 males, 10 females) were identified, with a mean age of 58.8 years. The most frequent aetiologies of the stenosis were post-surgical (16 patients), peptic (11 cases) and caustic (5 cases). Results: The periodic dilatation index significantly decreased (p=0.002), although there was no statistically significant variation between medium luminal diameter pre and post-treatment. There were no adverse events. Conclusion: Intralesional betamethasone injection is a safe technique which increases efficacy of endoscopic dilatation. However, no conclusions can be drawn from our study due to the small population studied