Conservative therapy for missed esophageal perforation after blunt trauma

An 80-year-old man was treated, non-operatively, for a distal esophageal perforation, diagnosed nine days after blunt thoracic trauma. Emergency department diagnosis was impeded by absence of mediastinal air; right chest-wall emphysema was thought to result from associated rib fractures. Conservative therapy consisting of nasogastric suction, intravenous antibiotics, right-chest tube drainage of a large communicating empyema cavity, temporary nasotracheal intubation with ventilatory support, total parenteral nutrition, and, finally, nasoduodenal intubation for elemental feeding were employed. This mode of therapy may be best in comparable elderly patients with esophageal perforation that is overlooked during the initial 24 hours after injury. Possibly, routine barium swallow in all patients with chest-wall emphysema and rib fractures would circumvent missed esophageal rupture after blunt trauma.