Caustic esophageal lesions in childhood: prevention of stricture formation.

Accidental caustic ingestion, a problem of childhood, can lead to esophageal stricture formation. We studied 132 children less than 19 years of age who were admitted to our hospital for suspected caustic ingestion. Forty-nine had burns in the esophagus, 11 of whom had deep and circular burns and were therefore prone to developing esophageal strictures. Only these 11 children were treated for prevention of stricture formation with a special nasogastric tube, functioning as intraluminal stent; this was their sole treatment. No corticosteroids were used. Only one of the 11 developed mild stenosis. In none of the other untreated children was stricture formation observed. Therefore, we believe that this approach spares many children unnecessary treatment and hospitalization, that our nasogastric tube effectively prevents stricture formation, and that there is no need for the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of caustic esophageal lesions in childhood.