• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 1972

Esophageal perforation is one of the most grave prognostic problems among thoracic and general surgical emergencies which necessitate urgent operative measures. In Korea,there are still many persons ingesting lye for suicidal attempt and thoracic surgeons in Korea have more chances to deal with lye burned esophagus with or without instrumental perforation than those in Western countries. Main cause of esophageal perforation in Korea is instrumental perforation in patients with lye stricture of the esophagus during diagnostic endoscopy or therapeutic bouginage. Other causes are corrosion of the esophagus due to ingestion of caustic agents, pathologic perforation, surgical trauma, stab wound and spontaneous rupture of the esophagus in our series. Therapeutic measures are various,and depend on duration of perforation, severity of its complications, pathology of perforated portion of the esophagus and degrees of inflammation at the point of perforation. The most important therapeutic measures are prevention of this grave condition during esophagoscopy, bouginage and surgical procedures on lungs and mediastinal structures and to make early diagnosis with prompt therapeutic measures. During the period of January, 1959, to December, 1971, the authors experienced 65 cases ofesophageal perforation including acquired esophagorespiratory fistula at Dept. of Chest Surgery, the National Medical Center in Seoul, and obtained following results in the series. 1. Female were 35 cases, and peak age incidence was 2nd and 3rd decades of life. 2. Among 65 cases, 43 were corrosive esophagitis or benign stricture of the esophagus due to caustic agents, 7 were patients with esophageal cancer. and there were 5 cases of esophageal perforation developed after pneumonectomy or pleuropneumonectomy. 3. Causes of perforation are instrumental perforation in 45, acute corrosion in 7, pathologic perforation in 7, surgical trauma in 3, stab wound in 2 cases, and one spontaneous rupture of the esophagus. 4. Most frequent sites of esophageal perforation were upper and mid thoracic esophagus, and 8 were cases with cervical esophageal perforation. 5. Complications of esophageal perforation were mediastinitis in 42, empyema or pneumothorax in 35, esophagorespiratory fistula in 12, retroperitoneal fistula or abscess in 5,pneumoperitoneum in 3, and localized peritonitis in 1 case. 6. Cases with malignant esophagorespiratory fistula were only 3 in the series which is predominant cause of acquired esophagorespiratory fistula in Western countries. 7. Various therapeutic measures were applied with mortality rate of 27.7% in the series. 8. In usual cases early treatment gave better prognosis, and least mortality rate in cases with perforation in mid thoracic esophagus. 9. Main causes of death were respiratory complications,acute hemorrhage with asphyxia, and septic complications. 10. Esophageal perforation developed after pneumonectomy gave more difficult therapeutic problems which were solved in only 1 among 5 cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 1978

H.S. Lee, M.D., H.S. Yu, M.D. Esophageal perforation occurred rarely but often lead to a high mortality and morbidity. In the past, the main cause of esophageal perforation in Korea were instrumental perforation in patient with lye stricture of the esophagus. We experienced 9 cases of other forms of esophageal perforation from 1972 through 1977 and obtained the following results. 1. These 9 patients ranged from 10 months to 40 years in age at the time of admission. Six were women. 2. Causes of perforation are instrumental perforation in 3, foreign body perforation in 3, spontaneous perforation in 3 and one pneumatic esophageal perforation. 3. Perforation developed in a variety of locations in the esophagus. Three occurred in cervical part, two in the upper thoracic part, two in the lower thoracic part. 4. The main clinical symptoms and signs were dyspnea, subcutaneous emphysema, chest pain and fever. 5. Thoracic rentgenogram disclosed subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema, widening of mediastinum and pleural effusion at the time of admission. 6. Complications of esophageal perforation were mediastinitis [7 cases], empyema [4 case], respiratory distress [4 cases] and sepsis [3 cases]. 7. In 3 deaths of the nine patients who sustained perforation of the esophagus, one was due to transfusion of infected blood and two of them were due to sepsis following empyema and mediastinitis. Early treatment [less than 24 hr] gave no hospital death, and good results obtained in the perforations of cervical and upper thoracic esophagus.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.598-602
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• 1994

We have experinced 20 cases of esophageal perforation from April, 1987 to August, 1993 at ourdivision of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Korea University, Gu Ro Hospital. Here we investgates the causes of disease, symptoms and sign, locations, time lag from onset, treatment of perforation and the results.The ratio between male and female patients was 12: 8, and age ranged from 4 years to 70 years old.The cause of esophageal perforation were instrumental trauma 7 cases, stab wound 4 cases, foreign body 4 cases, spontaneous perforations 3 cases, and others 1 cases. The middle and lower portions of esophagus was frequently involved portion in our cases [11 cases of 20].The common complications after perforation were mediastinitis [6 cases] and empyema [2 cases].The method of treatment were as follows, primary repair of perforation, simple drainge techniques including simple cervical drainage and closed thoracostomy, diversion and two-staged operations during several months. There was no mortality in our cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.633-637
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• 1993

Twenty-five patients with perforation of esophagus were managed at Pusan National University Hospital, from 1981 to 1993. The hospital course of 14 of these patients was evaluated with a special emphasis on the cause and location of perforation, clinical presentation, time elapsed from perforation to treatment, method of treatment, and outcome. Patients with anastomotic leak and cancer were excluded.The perforation was iatrogenic in 7 patients, spontaneous in 5, ingestion of foreign body in 1, and traumatic in 1. There were 7 cervical perforations, 2 upper thoracic perforations, and 5 lower thoracic perforations. Chest pain, fever, and dyspnea were frequent symptoms. Esophagography was most diagnostic [11 patients] but thoracentesis was of little diagnostic aid.Antibiotics were administered intravenously to all patients:hyperalimentation was accomplished intravenously in 11, and nasogastric suction was used in all cases. No patient required any surgical procedure, minor or major.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.935-940
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• 1988

Perforated esophagus is a surgical emergency; it is the most serious and frequently the most rapidly lethal perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. Contamination of the mediastinum and often a pleural cavity with corrosive fluids, food material and bacteria leads to cardiorespiratory embarrassment, shock, major fluid losses and fulminating infection. Despite the improved diagnostic and treatment modalities, a perforation or leak from the esophagus remains a major source of morbidity and mortality. When esophageal perforation occurs, a successful outcome can be expected only when it is diagnosed soon after the event and repaired early. Esophageal perforations have a poor prognosis after delayed surgical treatment. With the use of the Thai onlay gastric patch method, a case of postemetic spontaneous perforation of the esophagus was successfully managed 6days after the event.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.168-171
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• 1997

Appendiceal perforation is uncommon in the neonate. Diess reported the first case in 1908. Approximately 111 additional cases have been reported since that time. However, with exclusion of neonatal appendicitis associated with inguinal or umbilical hernias, necrotizing enterocolitis, meconium plug, and Hirschsprung's disease, there are only 36 cases of primary neonatal appendicitis. We treated a 12 days old boy with perforation of the appendix. The infant was 3000 g at birth and had a normal spontaneous vaginal delivary at 35 weeks of gestation. The mother was 31-year-old and had premature rupture of membrane. After normal feeding for the first 5 days of life, the infant had emesis of undigested milk, decreased activity and jaundice. The baby was admitted to the Pediatrics. Progressive abdominal distension, fever, decreased activity, and vomitting developed over the next six days. Erect abdominal radiography showed pneumoperitoneum. At exploratory laparotomy, a $0.8{\times}0.6$ cm sized perforation was noted at antime-senteric border of midportion of the appendix. Trasmural inflammation and the presence of ganglion cells were noticed on histology.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.119-123
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• 2004

Meckel's diverticulum is the most common malformation of gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms of Meckel's diverticulum usually arise within 2 years of life. The most common presentations include hemorrhage, perforation, diverticulitis and intestinal obstruction. Perforation of the Meckel's diverticulum in a neonate is uncommon but life threatening condition. We describe the first case of perforation of Meckel's diverticulum in a 1-day-old neonate who presented with abdominal distension without hemorrhage.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.44-48
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• 2003

Rupture of the esophagus is an uncommon condition that can be a formidable challenge to treat. Unless early treatment is applied, life-threatening complications, such as mediastinitis, sepsis, occurs and continue to be associated with a mortality rate of more than 20%. Definitive repair of esophageal perforation is considered the preferred treatment in the past. In the present study, conservative treatment acquired a good results by help of the development of antibiotics and nutritional supportive methods. Iatrogenic causes constituted most of the injuries, followed by external trauma, spontaneous, ingested foreign bodies, and malignancy. The incidence of perforation following ingestion of foreign bodies is very rare, so recommendations regarding treatment remain controversial. We analyzed the course of 31 patients with esophageal perforation by foreign bodies, concentrating on the diagnostic & treatment delay and methods of treatment, complications.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.115-121
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• 1990

We have experienced twenty-eight patients of esophageal perforation at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Seoul National University Hospital during the period from Jan. 1957 to Jun. 1989. The ratio between male and female patients was 17:11, and their age ranged from 2 years to 61 years old. [average: 30.4 years old] The cause of esophageal perforation were instrumental trauma in 9 cases, caustic perforation in 6 cases, spontaneous perforation in 6 cases, surgical trauma in 2 cases, and others in 5 cases. The most frequent location of perforation was in the lower third portion of the esophagus [13 case, 46 %]. Patients complained of chest pain [86 %], dyspnea [57 %], fever [57 %], subcutaneous emphysema [43 %], and others. The frequent complications of esophageal perforation were empyema [13 cases, 46 %] and mediastinitis [11 cases, 39 %]. The first treatment was supportive care in 3 cases, primary closure and reinforced procedures in 13 cases with 3 deaths, open drainage in 5 cases with 2 deaths, diversion in 4 cases with 2 deaths and closed thoracostomy drainage in 3 cases. After the first treatment, 6 patients received multi-staged operations for several months. Overall mortality was 25 %, and the most frequent cause of death was sepsis[57 %]. We thought that factors affecting the outcome of esophageal perforation are;[1] early diagnosis and adequacy in the first treatment, [2] intensive perioperative management including multi-stage surgical approach, [3] patient`s condition at the diagnosis

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.661-663
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• 1993

We have experienced 6 cases of esophageal perforation from September, 1988 to June, 1993, in the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Chungang Univesity Hospital and obtained the following results. The number of male patients was 5, and female 1.The causes of esophageal perforations were spontaneous, post-emetic in 2 cases, spur of cervical spine in 1 case, foreign body in 1 case, surgical trauma in 1 case and blunt trauma in 1 case. Perforation developed in cervical esophagus in I case,and others in distal third of the esophagus. One case needed only conservative treatment, and others needed surgical intervention minor or major. There were 2 mortality cases, and 2 cases healed satisfactorily without complication, 2 cases had complications that needed reoperations.