[Caustic lesions of the upper digestive tract]

A study of 108 patients who had ingested variable quantities of a caustic substance, most often for suicidal reasons. Hydrochloric acid was the substance most often encountered After stabilisation of any hemodynamic and respiratory disorders, all patients received emergency endoscopy. Subsequent therapy was based on the following endoscopic findings: --Patients, in whom the mucosa was normal, were not hospitalised. --The digestive tract of patients with stage I disorders was rested for 10 days. --Patients with stage III, disorders were operated on as an emergency especially when signs of gravity were present. --Patients with stage II disorders constituted the group which posed most problems in our study. These patients required enteral feeding as soon as possible, via a simple jejunostomy.