Objective?To investigate clinical characteristics， diagnosis， and treatment for patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture， and improve clinical diagnostic and treatment level.?Methods?We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 34 patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture who were treated in Subei People’s Hospital from January 1996 to June 2010. There were 28 male patients and 6 female patients with their age ranging from 32 to 80 years old (mean 57.6 years old). Main clinical manifestations included severe chest and abdominal pain after vomiting， fever， dyspnea and shock. The duration between disease onset and establishing diagnosis ranged from 4 hours to 7 days. Thirteen patients received conservative treatment including chest drainage， retrograde gastrointestinal decompression and enteral nutrition through jejunostomy. Twenty one patients received surgical treatment including layered anastomosis of the ruptured esophagus， retrograde gastrointestinal decompression and enteral nutrition through jejunostomy.?Results?All the patients were cured without in-hospital death. The mean hospital stay of the 13 patients who received conservative treatment was 46 days， while that of the 21 patients who received surgical treatment was 17 days. All the ruptured esophagus were one-stage healed. All the 34 patients were followed up from l to 8 years， including 11 patients in the conservative treatment group and 19 patients in the surgical treatment group， but 4 patients was lost during follow-up. All the patients had a normal diet without symptoms of esophageal stricture， reflux esophagitis or chronic thoracic empyema.?Conclusion Spontaneous esophageal rupture is a thoracic emergency with a high misdiagnosis rate and mortality．Early diagnosis， early surgical repair of ruptured esophagus and satisfactory chest drainage play a vital role in the treatment for patients with spontaneous rupture of esophagus.
Objective?To summarize our experience of surgical treatment of Boerhaave’s Syndrome. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical records of 14 patients with Boerhaave’s syndrome in West China Hospital between January 1998 and December 2011. There were 11 male patients and 3 female patients with a mean age of 55.2±14.4 years and mean time interval between onset and admission of 49.6±21.2 h. Primary repair was performed in 11 patients.Esophagectomy and reconstruction of digestive track was performed in 1 patient and intra-luminal stent implantation was applied in 1 patient. Intercostal catheter insertion was performed in 1 patient.?Results?Thirteen patients underwent surgical therapy, and their survival rate was 84.6% (11/13). Among the eleven patients who underwent primary repair, 8 patients (72.7%)were cured and 3 patients experienced postoperative leakage resulting 2 deaths. The other one patient was cured with in-hospital time of 22.3±7.0 d. Two patients underwent digestive track reconstruction and intra-luminal stent implantation respectively and all survived with in-hospital time 39.0±5.7 d. Another patient underwent bedside chest drainage and died 10 d after admission.?Conclusion?Aggressive surgical management is an effective way to treat Boerhaave’s syndrome, and primary repair can lead to ideal prognosis in delayed patients whose time interval between onset and admission is beyond 24 h. Digestive track reconstruction and intra-luminal stent implantation are alternative methods on condition that primary repair can not be accomplished.