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OESOPHAGUS (Gr. o'lvca=I will carry, ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 14 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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OESOPHAGUS (Gr. o'lvca=I will carry, and r/)ayeiv, to eat)  , in See also:anatomy, the gullet; see ALIMENTARY See also:CANAL for See also:comparative anatomy . The human See also:oesophagus is peculiarly liable to certain accidents and diseases, due both to its See also:function as a See also:tube to carry See also:food to the See also:stomach and to its anatomical situation (see generally See also:DIGESTIVE See also:ORGANS) . One of the commonest accidents is the lodgment of See also:foreign bodies in some See also:part of the tube . The situations in which they are arrested vary with the nature of the.-See also:OETINGER See also:body, whether it be a See also:coin, fishbone, toothplate or a portion of food . An impacted substance may be removed by the oesophageal forceps, or by' a coin-catcher; if it should be impossible to draw it up it may be pushed down into the stomach . When it is in the stomach a purgative should never be given, but soft food such as See also:porridge . Should gastric symptoms develop it may have to be removed by the operation of gastrotomy . Charring and ulceration of the oesophagus may occur from the swallowing of corrosive liquids, strong acids or alkalis, or even of boiling See also:water . Stricture of the oesophagus is a closing of the tube so that neither solids nor liquids are able to pass down into the stomach . There are three varieties of stricture; spasmodic, fibrous and See also:malignant . Spasmodic stricture usually occurs in See also:young hysterical See also:women; difficulty in swallowing is complained of, and a See also:bougie may not be able to be passed, but under an anaesthetic will slip down quite easily . Fibrous stricture is' usually situated near the commencement of the oesophagus, generally just behind the cricoid See also:cartilage, and usually results from swallowing corrosive fluids, but may also result from the healing of a syphilitic See also:ulcer .

Occasionally it is congenital . The See also:

ordinary treatment is repeated See also:dilatation by bougies . Occasionally See also:division of a fibrous stricture has been practised, or a Symond's tube inserted . Miku]icz recommends dilatation of the stricture by the fingers from inside after an incision into the stomach or a permanent gastric See also:fistula may have to be made . Malignant strictures are usually epitheliomatous in structure, and may be situated in any part of the oesophagus . They nearly always occur in See also:males between the ages of 40 and 70 years . An X-See also:ray photograph taken after the patient has swallowed a preparation of See also:bismuth will show the situation of the growth, and Killian and Brunig have introduced an See also:instrument called the oesophagoscope, which makes See also:direct examination possible . The remedy of See also:constant dilatation by bougies must not be attempted here, the walls of the oesophagus being so softened by disease and ulceration that severe See also:haemorrhage or perforation of the walls of the tube might take See also:place . The patient should be fed with purely liquid and concentrated nourishment in See also:order to give the oesophagus as much See also:rest as possible, or if the stricture be too tight rectal feeding may be necessary . Symond's method of tubage is well See also:borne by some patients, the tube having attached to it a See also:long See also:string which is secured to the cheek or See also:ear . The most satisfactory treatment, however, is the operation of gastrotomy, a permanent artificial opening being made into the stomach through which the patient can be fed .

End of Article: OESOPHAGUS (Gr. o'lvca=I will carry, and r/)ayeiv, to eat)
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