Treatment of cervical esophageal perforation caused by foreign bodies

In this article, we reviewed our experience of treatment of cervical esophageal perforation caused by foreign bodies. Between 1980 and 2010, 42 patients were included in this study. There were 18 women and 24 men with a median age of 54 years. We divided the patients into three groups: the patients whose foreign bodies could not be extracted by otolaryngologists using endoscope (n= 7), the patients who had some signs of abscess formation but the foreign bodies had been extracted using endoscope (n= 25), and the patients who had no signs of abscess formation and the foreign bodies had been extracted (n= 10). We treated the patients of the three groups with surgical treatment, drainage alone, and conservative treatment, respectively. The outcome of the current series was favorable. Our experience suggested that most of the cases can be treated conservatively or by drainage alone. If the foreign bodies of the esophagus could not be extracted using endoscope, surgical treatment including the removal of the foreign bodies, primary repair, and drainage should be performed.