Introduction:
Esophageal strictures can be caused by malignancy, congenital stenosis, motility disorders or benign strictures. Endoscopic balloon dilatation is a simple procedure with low complication rates to treat gastrointestinal strictures. This study aims to analyze indications and results of balloon dilatation without fluoroscopy.

Material and methods:
The patients who underwent pneumatic balloon dilatation (PBD) for esophageal stricture were included in the study. The demographic characteristics of the patients, indications for PBD, number of operations and complications were recorded.

Results:
Twelve patients were included in this pilot study. The most common cause of esophageal strictures was malignancy. In this group, PBD was performed before stenting in the patients who were planned to receive neoadjuvant therapy, had locally advanced esophageal cancer or inoperable esophageal cancer, and complained of difficulty swallowing. Three patients underwent PBD due to achalasia. One of these patients underwent PBD 3 times due to recurrence of symptoms during the follow-up period. The success rate of PBD in this study was 91.6%. The success rate for the patients who underwent PBD for the first time was 83.3%. None of the patients who underwent endoscopic balloon dilatation had major complications (such as massive bleeding and perforation) or procedural mortality.

Conclusions:
Endoscopic balloon dilatation without fluoroscopy performed by experienced endoscopists is an effective and safe method for the treatment of esophageal strictures. Successful results are obtained with low complication rates in experienced centers.