New to MyHealth?
Manage Your Care From Anywhere.
Access your health information from any device with MyHealth. You can message your clinic, view lab results, schedule an appointment, and pay your bill.
ALREADY HAVE AN ACCESS CODE?
DON'T HAVE AN ACCESS CODE?
NEED MORE DETAILS?
MyHealth for Mobile
Get the iPhone MyHealth app »
Get the Android MyHealth app »
Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)
Our Approach to Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)
Swallowing disorders, such as achalasia, can make eating and drinking an unpleasant experience. Our doctors were instrumental in developing an innovative new treatment to help people with these challenging disorders and restore their ability to eat and drink in comfort.
Known as peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), this procedure helps permanently relax tight esophageal muscles and open up areas of the esophagus that have narrowed. Stanford is one of the first health care centers in the country using POEM to treat swallowing disorders.
What We Offer You for Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)
- Unrivaled expertise from doctors who helped develop the POEM procedure through extensive research and are among the first in the country to offer it.
- Exceptional experience from specialists who have performed more than 175 POEM procedures, making Stanford one of the most experienced health care centers nationwide
- Minimally invasive approach using an endoscopic procedure that helps you recover faster and with no wounds or stitches on the outside of your body.
- Multispecialty treatment planning that brings together multiple gastrointestinal specialties who address your specific medical needs.
What Is Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)?
About Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)
For many people, swallowing disorders, such as achalasia, make eating and drinking an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a minimally invasive approach to treatment that offers long-term symptom relief.
Your doctor will use an endoscope, a thin, flexible tube that allows access to the interior of your esophagus, to make a series of small cuts (incisions) internally at the base of your esophagus. These incisions help relax stiff esophageal muscles and widen any narrowing in that location. As a result, food and liquids pass easily and quickly from your esophagus into your stomach.
Doctors at Stanford are among the first in the country to offer POEM. Stanford doctors helped develop this innovative treatment as part of their ongoing clinical research to improve the understanding and care of swallowing disorders. Our surgeons have advanced training and specialize in performing progressive treatments like POEM.
POEM may not an appropriate treatment option for everyone who has achalasia. Other options include botulinum toxin, pneumatic dilatation, Heller myotomy, and, in rare cases, esophagectomy. Our team will work with you to find the treatment that meets your individual needs.
Our Clinics
Our doctors have an international reputation for excellence in advanced endoscopic techniques for treating swallowing disorders. We work hard to develop a comprehensive treatment plan that suits your needs and gives you permanent symptom relief.


Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 650-736-5555 Getting Here »
RELATED CLINICS
To schedule an appointment, please call: 650-736-5555
Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM)
Our experienced doctors helped develop peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) to provide you with permanent relief from the symptoms of swallowing disorders.
POEM
esophageal motility disorders
achalasia
swallowing disorders