Esophageal emergencies: WSES guidelines

• Main Authors: Mircea Chirica, Michael D. Kelly, Stefano Siboni, Alberto Aiolfi, Carlo Galdino Riva, Emanuele Asti, Davide Ferrari, Ari Leppäniemi, Richard P. G. ten Broek, Pierre Yves Brichon, Yoram Kluger, Gustavo Pereira Fraga, Gil Frey, Nelson Adami Andreollo, Federico Coccolini, Cristina Frattini, Ernest E. Moore, Osvaldo Chiara, Salomone Di Saverio, Massimo Sartelli, Dieter Weber, Luca Ansaloni, Walter Biffl, Helene Corte, Imtaz Wani, Gianluca Baiocchi, Pierre Cattan, Fausto Catena, Luigi Bonavina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-05-01
• Series: World Journal of Emergency Surgery
• Subjects: Esophageal perforation; Caustic ingestion; Emergency management; Foreign body ingestion; Esophageal trauma
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13017-019-0245-2
• ISSN: 1749-7922

Abstract The esophagus traverses three body compartments (neck, thorax, and abdomen) and is surrounded at each level by vital organs. Injuries to the esophagus may be classified as foreign body ingestion, caustic ingestion, esophageal perforation, and esophageal trauma. These lesions can be life-threatening either by digestive contamination of surrounding structures in case of esophageal wall breach or concomitant damage of surrounding organs. Early diagnosis and timely therapeutic intervention are the keys of successful management.