Raymond Lee

“The inquest heard evidence that oesophageal strictures are a recognised complication of radiotherapy for oesophageal cancers. The implications of them are significant for patients as they can lead to aspiration and as well as significantly impact quality of life. At this time there is only very limited national guidance on how to best treat patients with strictures and limited evidence on which to develop best practice. The evidence given was that careful dilatation by an experienced pra”

“The inquest heard that stenting of patients in these circumstances has a limited body of evidence regarding the risk. The inquest highlighted that perforation may be a risk in some cases where a stent is used and that needed to be factored into any decision to use a stent.”

“dilatation particularly repeated dilatation carried risk of perforation and needed to be seen as something that could not be continued indefinitely. However, there was limited evidence on what the optimum number of dilatations were and/or when to stop and move to consider stenting.”