One-Fourth of Patients Do Not Get Appropriate Follow-up After Esophageal Food Bolus Impaction
Prateek Sharma, MD, FASGE, reviewing Guo H, et al. Am J Gastroenterol 2023 Jul 7.
Dealing with esophageal food bolus impactions (FBIs) is a frequent gastrointestinal emergency. Effective handling of esophageal FBIs entails promptly conducting an endoscopic assessment and addressing any underlying esophageal issues through appropriate treatment.
A retrospective, population-based, multicenter cohort study from the Calgary Health Zone, Canada, included 519 adult patients who underwent endoscopy for functional bowel disorders (FBIs) from 2016 to 2018. Of these patients, 25.2% (131/519) did not receive appropriate postendoscopy care. Among the 55.3% of patients (287/519) who underwent follow-up endoscopy or attended clinic, 22.3% (64/287) received a changed diagnosis from their initial diagnosis, including 3 newly diagnosed esophageal cancer cases. Patients not suspected of having underlying esophageal pathology identified during the initial endoscopy were 7-fold more likely to receive inappropriate postendoscopy follow-up and treatment, even after adjusting for various factors.
Note to readers: At the time we reviewed this paper, its publisher noted that it was not in final form and that subsequent changes might be made.
CITATION(S)
Guo H, Hamilton P, Enns E, et al. Post-endoscopy care for patients presenting with esophageal food bolus impaction: a population-based multicenter cohort study. Am J Gastroenterol 2023 Jul 7. (Epub ahead of print) (http://dx.doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000002392)