LYE BURNS OF THE ESOPHAGUS

Abstract

The problem of choosing a method of treatment for a boy with multiple strictures of the esophagus due to swallowing lye¹prompted us to survey our previous cases and to analyze our experiences with them. Since 1926 there have been 39 lye-burned patients admitted to the St. Louis Children's Hospital. Their ages have ranged from 6 months to 7 years, but 69 per cent of them have been between 1 and 3 years. Thirty-three of the patients were observed during the past ten years, with only 6 in the previous twelve years. Eleven of the children were seen at the St. Louis Children's Hospital within forty-eight hours after their accidents occurred, and 28 not until strictures had developed. All of the patients had initial anorexia with increased salivation while the burns of the mouth were present. In most of them swallowing at first improved, but in those in whom