Value of helical computed tomography in the early diagnosis of esophageal foreign bodies in adults

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between early use of computed tomography (CT) and complications associated with esophageal foreign body impaction in adults.

Material and methods: A retrospective study was performed on 120 patients (63 females, 57 males, median age 50 years) with a history of foreign bodies. All had negative findings on clinical examination. All cases underwent unenhanced helical CT, and patients with positive findings underwent esophagoscopy within 6 hours. All patients were followed up postoperatively.

Results: CT demonstrated 100% sensitivity, 92.6% specificity, 100% negative predictive value, and 97.9% positive predictive value. Esophageal foreign bodies were associated with a high incidence of complications in adults, and there was a significant difference in the incidence of complications between different durations of impaction (P < .01). In total, 37 patients presented with complications: 32 patients with grade I, 3 with grade II, 2 with grade III, and 0 with grade IV.

Conclusions: Esophageal foreign bodies were associated with a high incidence of complications in adults. CT could detect foreign bodies accurately in the early stages, and then FBs could be removed as early as possible, which may reduce the incidence of complications. Moreover, the great majority of complications were of lower grades. Thus, CT may be a useful first-line radiological tool for the early diagnosis of esophageal foreign bodies in adults.