title: Primary repair of an esophageal rupture using pleural flap.
abstract: Esophageal perforation remains an important thoracic emergency. Aggressive operative therapy remains the mainstay for treatment. A case of esophageal perforation, consequent upon impacted food bolus, is presented. An 80 years old female, with multiple comorbidities, presented with dysphagia and right sided chest pain, who had a distal esophageal tear, secondary to accidental meat ball ingestion. Rigid esophagoscopy showed complete occlusion of the distal esophagus with a meat ball. Right thoracotomy was performed, which showed perforated esophagus with large meat ball protruding from it. Endoscopic removal of the food particles was done, and the rupture was repaired using a pleural flap. The entire postoperative stay was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the ninth post-operative day.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: Saulat Hasnain
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Fatimi
authors.forename: Sadaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sheikh
authors.forename: Asif Anwar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004939:Esophageal Perforation / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005502:Food; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome