title: ["Spontaneous" esophageal perforation. A rare emergency for surgical treatment].
abstract: Spontaneous esophageal perforation is a rare but not-exceptional occurrence. Its polymorphous symptomatology often prevents the early diagnosis. Surgery is the therapy of choice. The treatment is variable according to early or late diagnosis, severity of the lesion and associated conditions such as mediastinal sepsis, hydropneumothorax and loss of water, electrolytes and proteins. The mortality rate among the untreated patients is highest when compared with the treated ones (90-100% versus 28-65%). A conservative approach is justified only in the case of bad general conditions, contraindicating thoracotomy. A wide review of the surgical managements is given.
mesh_terms: D004630:Emergencies; D004939:Esophageal Perforation / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
vernacular_title: Perforazione "spontanea" dell'esofago. Rara urgenza chirurgica di trattamento non univoco.