Wirsching A, et al. - Researchers compared per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) with laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM) regarding perioperative and short-term outcomes and costs at a single institution. From a prospective IRB approved database, they included 51 consecutive patients. Outcomes suggest that extended myotomy of the lower esophageal sphincter offers excellent palliation of symptoms in patients with achalasia. They noted a similar low complication rate with POEM and LHM. Following POEM, they more commonly noted postoperative GERD. Excellent and comparable symptom relieve were achieved with both the procedures. During the learning curve, costs for POEM were comparable to LHM