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Review
. 2025 Jul 28;17(7):109172.
doi: 10.4329/wjr.v17.i7.109172.

Role of computed tomography in the assessment of caustic ingestion severity: A comprehensive review

Alberto Martino  1 , Marco Di Serafino  2 , Francesco Paolo Zito  1 , Luigi Orsini  1 , Lorena Pietrini  1 , Antonella Menchise  1 , Martina Cargiolli  1 , Lorenzo Anastasio  1 , Rossana Martino  3 , Raffaele Bennato  1 , Giovanni Lombardi  1
Affiliations
Review

Role of computed tomography in the assessment of caustic ingestion severity: A comprehensive review

Alberto Martino et al. World J Radiol. .

Abstract

Caustic ingestion is a relatively rare but potentially catastrophic gastroenterological emergency. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is currently regarded as the gold standard modality not only to assess the depth and the extension of GI caustic injury, but also to guide the appropriate treatment. Intriguingly, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) has recently emerged as a promising non-invasive and more accurate alternative to endoscopy in this setting. However, to date, evidence concerning the role of CECT as an alternative or complementary diagnostic tool to endoscopy in caustic ingestion is still limited. The aim of our review was to summarize and discuss the current evidence concerning the role of CECT in the emergency diagnosis of caustic ingestion and its value in assessing injury severity among non-pediatric patients.

Keywords: Caustic ingestion; Computed tomography; Contrast-enhanced computed tomography; Corrosive ingestion; Endoscopy; Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

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