Abstract

Aim: Esophageal burns caused by corrosive material ingestion are a common. Since there is no sensitive test to diagnose esophagus burn properly, diagnostic endoscopy may be necessary to be informed about the degree of burn. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical results related to our approache to suspected of corrosive material ingestion.

Materials and Methods: Patients with corrosive material ingestion between June 2008 and June 2009 were divided into 3 groups according to the method of approach. Group 1 patients were those with endoscopy in the first 24 hours of admission and no burns or only first degree burns were found. Group 2 were those who had an endoscopy and significant burns. In group 3, the patients did not have any endoscopy due to varios reasons. Groups were compared with chi square and variance analysis method statistically in terms of age, gender, kind of material, lenght of stay (LOS) and cost.

Results: Diagnostic endoscopy was applied to 134 (72 %) of 186 cases with suspect of corrosive material ingestion (group 1: 73; group 2: 61). 52 % of the patients were on follow-up without endoscopy. No difference was found in both groups in terms of age and gender (p>.05). In all three groups, alkaline material ingestion was found in majority and there was no significant difference between the groups (p>.05). Group 1 had a significantly lower LOS (p<.05). Five patients in group 2 and 4 patients in group 3 have been taken into dilatation programme because their esophageal strictures progress. In terms of cost rates, there was no significant difference between group 1 and 2 but group 3 had a significantly lower cost than the other groups (p<.05).

Conclusions: It is stil largued if there is a need for endoscopy in corrosive material ingestion in controversial cases. This study showed that endoscopy decreases the admission time in the hospital for cases when burns were not diagnosed but increases the costs.