BACKGROUND:- Among perforations of the gastrointestinal tract, esophageal lesions are of worst prognosis. AIM: To evaluate the etiology, frequency, diagnosis and therapeutic applied in patients with esophageal perforations assisted at the clinical hospital of the Botucatu School of Medicine - UNESP. METHODS: This is a retrospective assessment of patients hospitalized from January 1999 to December 2006. Twenty-four patients (18 males and 6 females) with a mean age of 52 years were studied. Patients were divided into 2 groups of 12 individuals each: Group 1: patients whose perforation occurred during esophageal cancer development, and Group 2: patients with perforation resulting from various causes. In Group 2, the causes were endoscopic procedure (3), fundoplication (3), foreign body ingestion (2), Blackmore balloon (1), anti-inflammatory drug ingestion (1), diverticulectomy postoperative period (1), firearm wound (1). Thoracic esophagus was the most frequently affected site 12 patients in Group 1 and 7 in Group 2. In 5 patients from Group 1, transtumoral intubation was performed, and gastrostomy or jejunostomy was carried out in the others. In Group 2, the procedure adopted for thoracic perforations was esophagectomy. RESULTS: Operative mortality in Group 1 was 25%, and in Group 2 it was of 8.33%. CONCLUSIONS: a) Cervical esophageal lesion generally presents favorable development; b) surgical treatment, even when performed at a non-early phase (first 24 hours) results in good evolution.
Esophagus; Esophageal perforation; Gastrostomy
