The Surgical Treatment of Esophageal Perforation

식도 파열의 수술적 치료

Background : It is well-known that esophageal perforation (EP) is difficult in diagnosis and has high mortality rate despite proper management. There are disputes in regarding the reatment in cases of delayed diagnosis although in the early diagnosed cases, operation is recommended without arguments. Methods: From April, 2001 to December, 2004, nine patients who were diagnosed as EP in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively about the causes, the interval between the cause and the treatment, and operation methods. Results: There were 8 male and one female with men age of 49.3 years (range: 25-67 years). The causes of EP included perforations following operations of corvical spine in three cases, spontaneous perforation(Boehaave syndrome) in two cases, foreign bodies in two cases, operation of esophageal diverticulum in one case and blunt trauma bytraffic accident in one case. Mean interval between the first treatments and the causes was 11.6 days (range: 2-30 days). The sites of perforation were upper third of esophagus in three cases, middle third in three cases and lower third in three cases. All except two cervical cases presented as mediastinitis or empyema at the time of diagnosis. Primary repair and irrigation had been performed in 7 cases but five cases out of them required more than two procedures. Conclusions : More than one procedure wasrequired in the treatment of EP because of contaminations and infections which had been spread at the time of initial manifestatios, howeverprimary closure and massive irrigation is the best method in order to preserve esophagus unless the remaining esophagus is extensively damaged.