Effective endless-loop bougienage through the oral cavity and esophagus to the gastrostomy in corrosive esophageal strictures in children.

The authors present a safe, conservative method of endless-loop bougienage (ELB) through the oral cavity and esophagus to a gastrostomy without general anesthesia in three children with corrosive esophageal burns treated since 1966. Esophagogastroscopy was performed to evaluate for esophagitis at an early phase after ingestion of the caustic substance. When esophageal stricture formation was recognized after subsequent conservative treatment, a feeding gastrostomy was made. A continuous string loop with plummets of progressively larger size was positioned to pass through the patient's oral cavity and esophagus to the gastrostomy. Strictures were found in the upper esophagus in two patients and in the middle and lower esophagus in one. The gastrostomy was performed 15 months, 20 days, and 2 months after the injury, respectively, and the periods of ELB were 3, 5, and 2(1/2) years, respectively. The patients were able to start eating at 26, 42, and 29 months after injury, respectively. They are now 30, 18, and 17 years old, and slight dysphagia remains in patients 1 and 2. No patient developed esophageal carcinoma at the site of the corrosive stricture. Our method of ELB through the patient's oral cavity and esophagus to the gastrostomy appears to be safe, reliable, and useful. We believe that most caustic esophageal strictures in children can be treated by this conservative measure.