Gastrocele complicates the course of non-operated severe caustic injuries: operative strategies.

Background: For selected cases of severe caustic injuries, evidence favors conservative management, consisting of radiographic and clinical observation without emergency surgery. However, this approach can lead to the development of gastric distension caused by combined esophageal and antral strictures, called gastrocele. This study assessed the safety of a two-stage surgical treatment for gastrocele.

The conservative management of severe caustic gastric injuries.

Objective: To determine the safety of a conservative approach to treating severe caustic injury in patients lacking clinical and biochemical signs of transmural necrosis.

Background: Esophagogastrectomy is thought to limit the progression of severe caustic injury in the upper gastrointestinal tract observed upon initial endoscopic examination. However, endoscopic evaluation of the depth and spread of necrosis is challenging and may lead to unnecessary gastrectomy.