?:definition
|
-
Bougies designed for passing through the esophagus, usually to dilate and/or calibrate strictures. These handheld, manual instruments consist of a strong-walled rubber tube that is filled with mercury (or tungsten) or a set of perforated, olive-shaped tips, devices that are inserted via a previously swallowed string. Esophageal bougies are intended to treat strictures, stenosis, esophagitis, and/or cardiospasm; some esophageal bougies permit the introduction of an extremely slender solid tube (a filiform) via their lumen for use as a guide or for dilation of very thin strictures.
|