Esophageal Foreign Body Extraction
Esophageal foreign body is considered to be any material that is lodged inside the esophagus. One third of gastrointestinal foreign body cases correspond to an esophageal foreign body.
Many of the patients who swallow foreign bodies are asymptomatic. This is because they manage to pass spontaneously along the digestive tract. However, this is not common. In fact, as a result of a foreign body, severe complications such as intestinal perforations or obstructions can occur.
In these situations, you must act as early as possible. Thus, an esophageal foreign body should be suspected at the slightest indication that it appears.
Causes and predisposing
In children, the most common cause of an esophageal foreign body is swallowing. This is due to their habit of putting all kinds of objects in their mouths. In adults, the foreign body begins in the first instance also with a swallow, but it obviously has different causes.
The most common cause of esophageal body in adults is impaction of a food bolus, usually meat. However, this impaction usually requires the esophagus to be previously narrowed.
Some pathologies that bring esophageal narrowing are:
- Distal esophageal ring, generally of congenital origin.
- Tumor formation that reduces the diameter of the canal.
- Eosinophilic esophagitis: accumulation of a type of white blood cells in reaction to allergens or acid reflux.
Response to an esophageal foreign body
The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) has developed a protocol for action against the esophageal foreign body. According to it, attention must be directed in the first instance to the general state of health of the individual, in order to determine the urgency of action.
Second, it recommends a radiographic study, in order to determine its presence, location, size, position and number in case:
- The object is suspected or known to be radiopaque (visible by x-ray).
- The nature of the object is unknown.