Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Jul 14;14(1):56-58.
doi: 10.17925/HI.2020.14.1.56. eCollection 2020.

Clopidogrel-induced Pill Oesophagitis

James C Blankenship  1 , Matthew J Shellenberger  2
Affiliations
Review

Clopidogrel-induced Pill Oesophagitis

James C Blankenship et al. Heart Int. .

Abstract

Antiplatelet agents are routinely given to prevent thrombosis of coronary stents. Often this occurs during or immediately after the procedure, while the patient is still on the catheterisation laboratory table. Ingestion of pills while supine sometimes causes mild dysphagia and discomfort but, rarely, it can cause a more severe complication. We report a case of clopidogrel ingested during PCI, which caused chest pain and pill oesophagitis after the procedure. Conservative treatment was effective, symptoms resolved, and follow-up endoscopy showed resolution of the oesophageal inflammation.

Keywords: Oesophagitis; clopidogrel; coronary stenting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: James C Blankenship and Matthew J Shellenberger have no financial or non-financial relationships or activities to declare in relation to this article.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Shallow right anterior oblique image of left anterior descending coronary artery with an 80% stenosis at the origin of a large septal perforator
Figure 2:
Figure 2:. Right anterior oblique view of left anterior descending coronary artery with the lesion reduced to 0% by stenting
Figure 3:
Figure 3:. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy 2 days and 8 weeks after clopidogrel ingestion
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Levine GL, Bates ER, Blankenship JC. et al. 2011 ACCF/AHA/SCAI Guideline for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Circulation. 2011;124:e574–651. - PubMed
    1. Fields J, Go JT, Schulze KS. Pill properties that cause dysphagia and treatment failure. Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2015;77:79–82. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zografos GN, Georgiadou D, Thomas D. et al. Drug-induced esophagitis. Dis Esophagus. 2009;22:633–7. - PubMed
    1. Pusztaszeri MP, Genta RM, Cryer BL. Drug-induced injury in the gastrointestinal tract: clinical and pathologic considerations. Nat Clin Pract Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007;4:442–53. - PubMed
    1. Sugimoto M, Uotani T, Nishino M. et al. Antiplatelet drugs are a risk factor for esophageal mucosal injury. Digestion. 2013;87:281–9. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources