Abstract
Spontaneous rupture of the esophagus is a relatively uncommon event, and recurrent rupture is extremely rare. We present a patient who experienced and survived 2 spontaneous perforations of the esophagus, occurring 6 years apart. A 43-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with upper abdominal pain after vomiting. Esophagoscopy, esophagogram, and computed tomography were suggestive of esophageal rupture. Emergency left thoracolaparotomy revealed a 20-mm perforation of the left lower esophageal wall that had been previously repaired. After the perforation was repaired with a single-layer closure, the mediastinum and pleural cavity were drained. The patient recovered well and was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day 29. To the best of our knowledge, only 7 previous cases of recurrent spontaneous esophageal perforation have been reported in the literature.
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Ieta, K., Oki, A., Teshigahara, K. et al. Recurrent spontaneous esophageal rupture. Clin J Gastroenterol 6, 33–37 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-012-0356-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-012-0356-8