Outcome and follow-up of patients requiring emergency oesophagoscopy for food bolus obstruction over a 5-year period.

Introduction: OFBO is a common occurrence in the emergency setting. Endoscopic removal via rigid or flexible oesophagoscopy is only performed following failure to pass the obstruction after a period of observation and medical management. Despite recommendations from the ESGE, there is currently a lack of high-quality evidence to support the diagnostic work-up of these patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this single centre study was to assess the outcome and follow-up of this population over a 5-year period. We retrospectively collected data regarding all patients undergoing emergency oesophagoscopy between 2012-2017 and recorded their outcomes and subsequent follow-up. R esults: We found that only 33% of patients had diagnostic investigations performed post-operatively and oesophageal pathology was detected in 44% of those investigated. Eosinophilic oesophagitis was the most common diagnosis and OGD was more likely to detect pathology compared to other modalities. C onclusion: Our study suggests that our findings could have been higher had all our patients underwent further investigation. Therefore, we would recommend a diagnostic work-up in all patients following a discussion of the risks associated with an endoscopic examination. We thoroughly support further large-scale collaborative research which can shed better light of evidence on the topic.