This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Investigations

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Investigations are as follows:

  • barium swallow – characteristic appearance with proximal dilatation and distal smooth tapering (dilated oesophagus with bird beak appearance) (1)
  • manometric tests – demonstrate motility disorder
    • gastroesophageal sphincter that has a high resting tone and only partially relaxes
    • tone does not fall to gastric fundal pressure
    • gold standard (2)
  • endoscopy – exclusion of pseudo achalasia (1) or carcinoma (3)
  • oesophageal pH monitoring – to ruled out reflux disease (3)
  • chest radiograph may reveal:
    • widened mediastinum with possibly a fluid level behind the heart
    • absence of gastric air bubble

Reference:

  1. Vaezi MF, Pandolfino JE, Yadlapati RH, Greer KB, Kavitt RT. ACG Clinical Guidelines: Diagnosis and Management of Achalasia. Am J Gastroenterol. 2020 Sep;115(9):1393-1411. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000000731. PMID: 32773454.
  2. Schlottmann F, Patti MG. Esophageal achalasia: current diagnosis and treatment. Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018 Jul;12(7):711-721. doi: 10.1080/17474124.2018.1481748. Epub 2018 Jun 8. PMID: 29804476.
  3. Momodu II, Wallen JM. Achalasia. [Updated 2021 Aug 9]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519515/ - article-17083.s4 (accessed 21 January 2022)

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.