• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 1973

This is a report on a total of four cases of esophageal perforation due to fish bone in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hanyang University Hospital. The perforated portions of esophagus were upper third of esophagus, that is, cervical esophalgus principally. The complications after esophageal perforation were acute mediastinitis with mediastinal emphysema in 2 cases, acute mediastinitis with both pyothorax in one case and cervical subcutaneous abscess alone in one case. Collar mediastinostomy was required to control disturbance of cardiopulmonary function as emergency procedure. Gastrostomy was of worthy for the various purposes, that` is, for feeding, absolute rest of the esophagus, and for prevention against continuous infection from esophageal leakage. After the gastrostomy. 3 cases were healed by spontaneous closure of esophageal perforation between one to four weeks. One case expired from severe septic shock due to acute diffuse mediastinitis and both pyothorax.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 1981

The esophageal perforation is the most rapidly fatal and most serious perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. The 53 year old male patient was admitted because of substernal and epigastric pain altar esophageal bougienage for the indigestion and the difficult swallowing before about 18 hours. On esophagogram, there was the extravasation of contrast media at the right side of the lower esophagus [retrocardiac segment]. The emergency thoractotomy, debridement and suture closure with drainage were performed. But after 7 days the esophageal leakage was complicated again with pus discharge, although primary repair was done. On the 13th hospital day, the temporary cervical esophageal fistulation with dual drainages was made under general anesthesia. On the 38th day after this procedure, the esophageal leakage was closed spontaneously. On the 63rd hospital day the cervical fistulation was repaired and ever since the esophageal passage was good without leakage or swallowing difficulty.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1084-1094
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• 1988

Conservative management of 3 iatrogenic perforations of intrathoracic esophagus was reviewed. The primary disorders were achalasia in 2 patients and congenital tracheoesophageal fistula in 1 patient. Perforation occurred after treatment of the primary disorders in the distal esophagus in 2 patients and mid-thoracic esophagus in 1 patient. All the perforations appeared late after the previous treatments and the inflammation spread to mediastinum and pleural cavity in all the 3 patients. Conservative management of esophageal perforation was carried out with intraluminal drainage from the perforated site of esophagus[insertion of Levin`s tube and continuous suction], pleural drainage and feeding of liquid diet through gastrostomy tube with Fowler`s position. The patients revealed spontaneous closure of perforated sites about 3 to 4 weeks after this conservative management without open thoracotomy. This result suggests that this conservative management may be accepted as therapeutic method in the thoracic esophageal perforations regardless of cause and time of the perforation.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.126-132
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• 1997

Reduction of intussusception using air or oxygen has wide acceptance as an alternative to conventional hydrostatic reduction. This study was undertaken to evaluate the results and complications of air pressure enema in 948 pediatric intussusception. One hundred and twenty nine cases were operated on at the Department of Surgery, Masan Samsung Hospital from 1985 to 1996 because of air reduction failure. The success rate was 86.4 %. Twenty-one patients(2.2 %) showed perforation during air reduction. Risk prone factors of perforation were; age less than 3 months(42.9 % vs 11.1 %), duration of symptoms greater than 48 hours (66.7 % vs 33.3 %), and presence of pathologic leading point(28.6 % vs 3.7 %). Vomitting and spontaneous rectal bleeding revealed higher prediction to the complication. In nineteen cases, bowel infarction, coagulated necrosis and hemorrhage suggested that the cause of perforation was due to the preexisting strangulation. In conclusion, when doing an air pressure enema reduction, care must be taken if the patient is of a young age or the symptoms are of long duration.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.2 s.259
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• pp.111-116
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• 2006

Background: Perforation of the esophagus is a deadly injury that requires expert management for survival. The mediastinal contamination with microorganisms, gastric acid, and digestive enzymes results in a mediastinitis that is often fatal if untreated. Material and Method: Between January 1990 and June 2004, 38 patients with esophageal perforation were treated in our hospital. Retrospective review of these cases has been performed. Result: There were 28 males and 10 females. The mean age was 43.84$\pm$18.89 years (range $1{\~}73$ years). Spontaneous rupture was found in $34\%$ of perforations, iatrogenic perforation in $32\%$ and traumatic perforation in $34\%$. Perforation occurred in the cervical esophagus in 8 cases, thoracic esophagus in 29 and abdominal esophagus in 1. In the cervical esophageal perforation, managements were primary closure in 8 and drainage in 2. In the thoracic esophageal perforation, managements were primary closure in 14, resection in 3 and conservative management in 12. The mortality rate was $25\%$ in cervical esophageal perforation and $34.5\%$ in thoracic esophageal perforation. We revealed risk factor of esophageal perforation to be peropertaive septic condition (p=0.005). Conclusion: Most important risk factor of esophageal perforation was preoperative septic condition. Preoperative prompt and aggressive preoperative treatment may improve the survival rate of esophageal perforation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.759-762
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• 1996

Fifteen patients with esophageal perforation were treated at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovacular Surgery, Chungnam National University Hospital during the period from June, 1985 to September, 1995. The ratio between male and female patients was 9 : 6, their age ranged from 19 years to 71 years old(a erage : 49 years old). The causes of the perforation were various, spontaneous in 4 cases, foreign body in 4 cases, instrumental trauma in ) cases, chest trauma in 1 case, drug ingestion (chlorocalchi) induced in 1 case, tracheostomy induced in 1 case, unknown in 1 case. The perforation sites were intrathoracic esophagus in 9 cases and cervical in 6 cases. The Patients complained of chest or cervi- cal pain in 11 cases, fever in 9 cases, dysphagia in 8 cases and dyspnea in 5 cases. We have performed the following surgical procedures : incision and drainage, primary repair, gastrostomy for cervical esophageal perf'oration and primary repair, primary repair and pleural flap reinforcement, gastrostomy for thoracic esophageal perforation. A patient died of sepsis.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2005

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.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.387-390
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• 2011

Spontaneous neonatal esophageal perforation (EP) is a rare condition. However, iatrogenic EP due to a feeding tube is not uncommon, particularly in premature infants. Iatrogenic EP can result in serious complications, such as a pneumothorax, and can be fatal. Usually a pneumothorax develops as a result of EP. However, we experienced an EP in a patient with a pneumothorax. The EP occurred after inserting a feeding tube while the patient was suffering from a pneumothorax. Thus care is needed when inserting the feeding tube in a patient with a pneumothorax.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2009

We report a rare case of gastric perforation in a 13-year-old boy with anorexia nervosa. He was admitted to our hospital with the chief complaint of body weight loss. He had lower abdominal pain after 2 days. An abdominal CT revealed diffuse peritonitis. At laparotomy, the stomach was dilated and perforated. Postoperatively, the patient suffered from malnutrition. We monitored electrolytes, minerals, and fluids closely before and during the initiation of feedings to prevent morbidity and mortality associated with refeeding syndrome. We present an extremely rare complication that relates to this phenomenon, describing an acute gastric dilatation that led to gastric necrosis and perforation through an unusual mechanism in an extremely anorectic teenager during hospitalization for refeeding.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.76-80
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• 2018

Early diagnosis followed by primary repair is the best treatment for spontaneous esophageal perforation. However, the appropriate management of esophageal leakage after surgical repair is still controversial. Recently, the successful adaptation of vacuum-assisted closure therapy, which is well established for the treatment of chronic surface wounds, has been demonstrated for esophageal perforation or leakage. Conservative treatment methods require long-term fasting with total parenteral nutrition or enteral feeding through invasive procedures, such as percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy or a feeding jejunostomy. We report 2 cases of esophageal leakage after primary repair treated by endoscopic vacuum therapy with continuous enteral feeding using a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube.