• Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, P. R. China;
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Objective To investigate the effect of surgical treatment of patients with esophageal foreign bodies (EFBs), in order to provide a reference for its prevention. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of 18 patients with EFBs treated in West China Hospital from June 2005 to December 2010. There were 13 males and 5 females with an average age of 57.50±15.28 years (30 to 82 years). All the 18 patients had a history of ingesting EFBs which were mainly animal bones (10/18). The EFBs were mostly in the upper segments of the esophagus (12/18). Sixteen patients had complications like perforations and severe mucosal injuries, while complications were not detected in the other 2 patients. Fifteen patients received surgical treatment, while the other 3 patients didn’t. Results As for the 15 patients with surgical treatment, the operative time was 136.33±92.86 minutes (50 to 410 minutes), and the hospital stay was 16.35±15.8 days (4.00 to 69.92 days). Three patients (of which,one aged at 78 years and one 82 years) died, among whom two died of multiorgan failure, and 1 died of respiratory failure. All the other 12 patients were discharged from the hospital. For the 3 patients without surgical treatment, the hospital stay time was 5.06±1.47 days ranged from 3.71 to 6.63 days. They were cured and left the hospital. Conclusion EFBs should be treated as early as possible to reduce severe complications. Surgery is still one of the mostly used treatments for EFBs. Senility and complications are the m
ajor causes of death. It should be comprehensively assessed whether the EFBs patients should receive operations and which operative procedures should be performed.

Citation: SHI Hui,SHEN Chunhui,MEI Longyong,et al .. Surgical Management of Esophageal Foreign Bodies. Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2011, 18(4): 329-331. doi: Copy