Eighty percent of ingested foreign bodies which reach to stomach will pass uneventfully through the gastrointestinal tract. The remainder may cause obstruction, perforation or hemorrhage. The risk of complications is increased with long sharp metal objects and animal bones, and may be higher in patients with adhesions due to prior abdominal surgery. Pre-existing intestinal disease such as Crohn's or intestinal stenosis may predispose to complications. The use of overtubes has made endoscopic removal of sharp objects safer. In patients at increased risk for complications, we recommended early endoscopic retrieval of ingested foreign objects.

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The myotomy performed for achalasia of the esophagus should divide all of the constricting, diseased muscular elements that obstruct the esophagogastric junction (EGJ). Whether the disease process includes proximal gastric as well as esophageal components is as yet unclear, but anatomic evidence complemented by clinical data suggest that the disease process does not end at the evanescent and poorly defined EGJ. Clinical reports from enthusiastic proponents of a particular operative approach for achalasia have not been illuminating in this regard, because all patients are improved to some degree post-operatively, and there are no objective parametric standards for the evaluation of swallowing function. This study reports a series of patients in whom endoscopic viewing was used to judge the adequacy of myotomy after 'esophageal' myotomy. The question posed by this study was, 'Does esophageal myotomy remove all constricting elements at the gastroesophageal junction?' Laparoscopic myotomy was performed in 48 patients with a diagnosis of achalasia; these patients are the most recent in a total cohort of 72 patients operated upon for achalasia during the past 20 years. Myotomy was begun on the esophagus, and extended to the esophagogastric junction; anatomic landmarks, including the appearance of submucosal veins, guided the initial dissection. Intraoperative endoscopy was then performed to determine whether there was residual constriction of the channel between the esophagus and stomach; if so, myotomy was extended onto the gastric cardia until visual evidence of obstruction had disappeared. All patients had either Toupet fundoplication or Dor fundoplication after myotomy. There were obvious constricting elements distal to the gastroesophageal junction in 90% of the patients. These patients required extension of the myotomy onto the stomach for an average of 15 mm. All but one patient had improved swallowing post-operatively. Eight patients required 'stretch' of the distal esophagus/cardia within the first year post-operatively; one patient was reoperated for fibrous scar obstruction of the distal esophagus. Esophageal myotomy limited to the esophageal muscle does not remove all constricting elements at the gastroesophageal junction; as a result, the extended myotomy must be complemented by an antireflux procedure during operations for achalasia.

SUMMARY BackgroundStudies to date have not directly compared the pharmacodynamic efficacies of different proton pump inhibitors in controlling intragastric acidity in patients treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.