[Corrosive burns of the upper gastrointestinal tract in adults]

Experience obtained from acid burns in 60 adult patients is reported in this paper. Twelve of them died, while 48 received conservative treatment, and twelve underwent surgery. Attempted suicide accounted for the highest number and severity of those accidental injuries. The therapeutic approach should be chosen on earliest possible endoscopy. Trends towards exploratory laparotomy and blind oesophagus stripping are described, and the problem of conservative therapy is discussed.