Treatment of spontaneous esophageal rupture with transnasal thoracic drainage and temporary esophageal stent and jejunal feeding tube placement.
Spontaneous rupture of the esophagus is a rare but life-threatening thoracic emergency, with high rates of clinical misdiagnosis and mortality. This article summarizes our experience in the treatment of spontaneous esophageal rupture with transnasal thoracic drainage and temporary esophageal stent and jejunal feeding tube placement.



We retrospectively assessed the medical records of 19 patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture treated using our intervention protocol. Patients received local anesthesia and sedation prior to undergoing transnasal drainage catheter placement into the thoracic abscess cavity, followed by temporary esophageal stent and jejunal feeding tube placement. After the operation, abscess lavage, nutritional support, and anti-inflammatory treatment were given. The transnasal thoracic drainage catheter, esophageal stent, and feeding tube were removed after the healing of the abscess cavity.



In all, 19 covered esophageal stents were placed in 19 patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture. All operations were technically successful. After an average of 84.06 days, the stents were successfully removed from 17 patients. No cases of massive hemorrhage, esophageal rupture, or other complications occurred during stent removal. An 82-year-old patient died of heart failure 2 months after the operation. One patient died of sudden massive hematemesis and hematochezia 55 days after the operation. In one patient, the esophageal injury failed to heal completely.



Our treatment protocol is simple, minimally invasive, and efficacious and may be an alternative for patients who are not candidates for surgery, have a high risk of postoperative complications, or wish to undergo minimally invasive surgery.



Therapeutic study, level V.
From the Department of Interventional Radiology (G.W., Y.F., D.J., K.R., X.H.), Department of Thoracic Surgery (Y.Q., X.L.), The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; and Department of Medicine Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Y.S.Z.), Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California.
Gang
G
Wu
Yan Shi
YS
Zhao
Yi
Y
Fang
Yu
Y
Qi
Xiangnan
X
Li
Dechao
D
Jiao
Kewei
K
Ren
Xinwei
X
Han
D000038:Abscess / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004939:Esophageal Perforation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006801:Humans; D007582:Jejunostomy; D008297:Male; D008477:Mediastinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009666:Nose; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D004935:Esophageal Diseases; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D000072663:Spontaneous Perforation