Safe esophageal bougie placement for laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair.

The increased use of laparoscopy for treatment of reflux esophagitis has been associated with a 1-8% complication rate. Perforation of the esophagus from bougie placement, wrap breakdown or too tight a wrap are some of the complications seen from this surgery. An esophageal dilator system was developed to overcome these problems. Thirty patients had an esophageal dilator system used whereby a 48 F or 58 F dilator was placed over a 18 F orogastric tube. Intraoperative gastroscopy documented a properly created wrap. There were no esophageal perforations or morbidity associated with the dilator.