• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.58-62
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• 2004

Acid ingestion can cause not only caustic injury on esophagus and stomach but also fatal outcome through systemic complications. We report the case of a patient who died early after severe caustic injury with strong acid. A 38-year-old man who ingested about 400ml of hydrochloric acid of unknown concentration was transferred to our hospital from a private clinic, in which he was managed with gastric irrigation through a nasogastric tube. He was complaining dyspnea and abdominal pain. Physical examination demonstrated tenderness and rebound tenderness on epigastric region. Severe metabolic acidosis and leukocytosis were noted. Radiological findings suggested perforation of gastrointestinal tract, although the physical signs were not typical. Endoscopy revealed caustic injuries of grade I on esophagus and of grade Ⅲ on stomach, which indicate more severe injury on the stomach than on the esophagus. Exploratory surgery was recommended but unfortunately not permitted by his family. Despite intensive measures, his vital signs deteriorated rapidly and he died 50 hours after the ingestion.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2009

Purpose: Though caustic injury of the upper digestive tract can lead to severe sequelae, there are few clinical studies on this subject. This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical characteristics, the endoscopic findings and the risk factors of the upper digestive lesions in patient with caustic ingestion injury. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 137 patients who ingested caustic materials and who visited to our emergency room from January, 2000 to June, 2009. Results: The most common ingested agent was sodium hypochlorite (44.5%), followed by acetic acid (19.7%), hydrochloric acid (11.7%) and lye (8.0%). Ingestion for suicidal attempt (62.0%) was more frequent than accidental ingestion (30.7%). Grade IIa injury was the most frequent finding on endoscopy of the esophagus and Grade 1 injury was the most frequent finding on endoscopy of the stomach. For the late sequelae, there were 9 cases (6.6%) of esophageal stricture and 2 cases (1.5%) of gastric outlet obstruction. The initial signs and symptoms did not correlate with the development of stricture, but leukocytosis, and grade III injury were related to the risk of developing stricture. Conclusion: Caustic injury of the upper gastrointestinal tract is frequently observed on early endoscopy and it can cause significant late sequelae such as stricture. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate these patients with regular follow up endoscopic examinations for the management of late sequelae.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.141-146
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• 2004

Laundery detergent ingestions are generally considered to have minor consequences. But some detergent ingestions have severe consequences. Unlike household bleaches contain sodium hypochlorite, bleaching agents that contain sodium carbonate have the potential to cause significant mucosal damage to the gastrointestinal tract if ingested. Especially, when ingested in solid form of Sodium carbonate, corrosive injury is much heavier. Therefore, patient who ingest sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate need more intensive management than patient who ingest other bleaches. We experienced a case of serious caustic injury after ingestion of Sodium Carbonate Peroxyhydrate. We report this case with review of literature.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2003

Caustic ingestion can produce a progressive and devastating injury to the esophagus and stomach, In the acute stage, perforation and necrosis may occur. Long-term complications include esophageal stricture, antral stenosis and the development of esophageal cancer. Endoscopy should be performed as soon as possible in all cases to evaluate the extent and severity of damage, unless there is evidence of perforation. Endoscopy is the diagnostic procedure of choice. However, when the endoscopy cannot be passed through due to esophageal stricture, upper GI barium studies may be useful as a follow-up measure and in the evaluation of complications. A 44-year-old man visited our hospital complaining frequent vomiting 1 hour after ingestion of unknown amount of hydrochloric acid. At the time of arrival, the patient's oral cavity was slightly swollen and erythematous. On the endoscopic examination fourteen hour after the caustic ingestion, marked swelling of the arytenoids and circumferential ulceration with brown and black pigmentation at the upper esophagus were observed. Four weeks after the caustic injury, upper esophageal narrowing was observed and then the scope could not be advanced to the stomach. Upper GI barium study performed at that time revealed diffuse luminal narrowing of the esophagus and concentric luminal narrowing from prepyloric antrum to pylorus with disturbance of barium passage. At a week after the Upper GI study, through endoscopic examination after bougie dilatation of the esophagus, barium impaction in the stomach and the pylorus was noticed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.935-938
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• 1995

Two cases of severe caustic injury of the hypopharynx, esophagus, and stomach are presented. Restoration of digestive continuity was accomplished by retrosternal isoperistaltic interposition of the transverse and left colon on the post-injury 73rd and 66th day respectively. The upper oro-colon continuity was made by a cervical approach, a vertical incision at the posterior hypopharyngeal wall, and interrupted one-layer sutures using 3-0 Dacron suture materials. The distal continuity was made by colojejunostomy between the transposed colon and proximal jejunum. There was no event after the operation in both cases. The posterior vertical hypopharyngotomy and hypopharyngocolostomy at the early post-injury period may be the preferred procedure to obtain normal deglutition in patients with esophageal stricture associated with hypopharyngeal injury.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2000

Purpose: This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical features and complication such as esophageal stricture in children with corrosive esophagitis. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 31 children who accidentally ingested corrosive materials and visited to emergency room of Chonnam National University Hospital from Jan. 1992 to Dec. 1999. Twenty-one children were examined by upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy to evaluate location and severity of caustic injury. Results: 1) Among 31 patients, there were 20 males and 11 females and the ratio of male to female was 2:1. Average age at diagnosis was 2.3 years (12 months to 9.8 years). Twenty-seven (87.1%) patients were accidentally ingested vinegar. 2) Initial presenting symptoms were dysphagia (54.8%), vomiting (48.3%), chemical burn on lips and skin (45.2%), excessive salivation (45.2%), coughing and respiratory grunting (32.3%) and aspiration pneumonia (9.8%). 3) UGI endoscopic examination showed caustic injury in 17 children: grade I in 8, grade II in 7 and grade III in 2. The region of caustic injury was proximal esophagus in 5, distal esophagus in 3, entire esophagus in 9 and stomach in 6. 4) Corrosive esophageal strictures developed in 6 children (19.4%) and gastric outlet stricture in 1 (3.2%). All of them showed grade II or III caustic injury on endoscopic examination. Conclusion: The development of esophageal stricture was related to the severity of the caustic injury. Early UGI endoscopic examination in caustic ingestion seems to be useful for prediction of development of caustic stricture.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2015

Purpose: We investigated comparison of clinical characteristics and prognosis by initial endoscopic severity in caustic injury and then discussed predisposing factors which can be helpful in predicting the prognosis and determining the treatment. Methods: This study was a retrospective review of medical records from patients over the age of 15, who underwent initial endoscopy for caustic injury from April 2007 through November 2014. Patients were classified according to two groups based on the initial endoscopic finding by Zargar's classification: patients with grade 0, I, IIa at esophagus (low risk group) and patients with grade IIb, IIIa, IIIb at esophagus (high risk group). The two groups were then compared. Results: A total of 55 patients were included (low risk group [n=44] vs. high risk group [n=11]). Old age (p<0.001), large amount of ingestion (p<0.05), oropharyngeal symptoms (p<0.01), high SOFA score (p<0.001), high WBC count (p<0.05), low base excess (p<0.01), and HCO3 (p<0.05) were statistically significant factors in the high risk group. A poor prognosis was observed for hospital stay (p<0.001), ICU admission (p<0.001), mortality (p<0.01), and stricture (p<0.001) in the high risk group. Conclusion: Clinical characteristics including age, amount of ingestion, oropharyngeal symptoms, SOFA score, WBC count, base excess, and $HCO_3$ can be helpful in the decision to undergo initial endoscopy and risk assessment by initial endoscopic severity can be helpful in predicting prognosis and determining the treatment plan.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.156-158
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• 2011

Organophosphates are used as herbicides. Glyphosate is one of the acidic organophosphate solution of pH4.8-6. We experienced a case of laryngeal injury after glyphosate caustic ingestion. He had a mild respiratory distress, and a laryngeal granuloma was observed in endoscopy. He received treatment with oral steroid and PPI for two weeks, the laryngeal granuloma and respiratory distress were nearly disappeared. Therefore, we expect this case report to be helpful the therapeutic formulations in the damage of larynx due to glyphosate.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.90-94
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• 1990

Between Dec. 1958 and Oct. 1989, we had been experienced 14 cases of the esophageal corrosion carcinoma among 562 cases of corrosive esophageal stricture, which incidence was revealed 5.6 % of total esophageal carcinoma cases and 2.5 9o of total benign esophageal stricture cases. The age distribution was from 15 to 64 years, and the mean age was 45.6 years. Ten of the patients were women. The caustic agents were lye in 12 patients and hydrochloric acid in 2 patients. The latent time from injury to the development of carcinoma was from 12 years to 45 years, and the mean latent time was 29 years. In majority of cases, the developing site of carcinoma was just or just above the benign stricture portion of the esophagus. Corrective surgery were made in seven cases; three cases were made esophagectomy and esophagogastrostomy, and the other four cases were made esophagectomy and colon interposition. Palliative surgery including feeding gastrostomy were made in seven cases. All cases had a longstanding history of difficult oral swallowing especially at the site of stricture. We think chronic food irritations of stricture portion of the esophagus induced the development of corrosion carcinoma. In conclusion, we had to suspect possibility of carcinoma in patient with long standing history of benign esophageal stricture. So we recommended preoperative esophagoscopic biopsy in such cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.561-566
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• 1999

Background: It is not easy to surgically correct caustic pharyngeal strictures and a lot of effort is required to restore normal swallowing after the surgery. The authors reviewed the course in patients who underwent pharyngocolostomy. Material and Method: From August 1995 to March 1998, 6 patients with caustic stricture underwent esophageal reconstruction surgery. The time of injury to the replacement of the esophagus was from 3 months to 2 years and 4 months. The left colon was used in all patients. The surgical route was used under the sternum in 5 patients and through the esophageal hiatus in 1 patient. In the cervical anastomoses, the cervical pharyngocolic anastomosis was performed on the left pyriform sinus after a partial resection of the thyroid cartilage in 3 patients and on the posterolateral aspect of the inferior pharyngeal constrictor in 3 patients. Result: Postoperative complications consisted of a dysphagia in 3 patients and left vocal cord palsy in 1 patient. There was no cervical anastomotic stricture. Revisional procedures consisted of an esophageal dilation and free jejunal graft in 1 patient, supraglottic scar band resection in 1 patient, and colonic mucosal resection in 1 patient. Swallowing training was required in the 3 patients with dysphagia. Restoration of normal swallowing was obtained in all patients between the 9th and the 303rd day. Conclusion: Pharyngocolostomy is a satisfactory method of treatment for patients with intractable caustic stricture. Pharyngocolojejunostomy is an effective alternative for esophagocologastrostomy in cases where gastric outlets are involved.