[Does the ingestion of caustics produce irreversible motor changes in the esophagus? Manometric study of 17 cases].

During the acute period of caustic esophagitis, important alterations in esophageal motor function appear. However, it is not known if these alterations persist later. To determine whether motor disorders persist (after the aggression) in the esophagus that has suffered caustic aggression, a manometric study was made in two groups of patients classified as mild (9 cases) or severe esophagitis (8 cases), and results were compared with those of a control group. Patients who had developed stenosis or suffered the caustic aggression less than a year earlier were excluded. The probable existence of motor anomalies could determine the appearance of dysphagia or reduce the effectiveness of motor clearance of the esophageal body, thus conditioning a situation of esophageal defenselessness against physiological or eventual abnormal episodes of gastroesophageal reflux (RGE). Our results indicate that in a variable percentage of cases some peristaltic dysfunctions can persist in the esophageal body in relation to the severity of the initial lesion.