Meat bolus impactions in the oesophagus among elderly Nigerians in

Background: Impacted pharyngo-esophageal foreign bodies are more common in children than adults with various types of foreign bodies reported. The elderly may also be affected with foreign body impaction. Materials and methods: This was a prospective study of elderly Nigerians who were admitted with symptoms of total dysphagia and odynophagia following ingestion of meat bolus over a 3½ year period (Jan.2002 to June 2005) from ear, nose and throat (ENT) department of usman danfodiyo university teaching hospital (uduth) sokoto, nigeiria.. They were managed ‘conservatively ‘ Results: A total number of 10 elderly patients [ 7 males (70%), 3 females (30%), 3 females (30%)] were seen whose ages ranged between 70 and 90 years. The duration of symptoms was between 1 and 2 days. All had spontaneous disimpaaction between 24-48 hours while on conservative management. One patient came back 3 months after with confirmed features of hypoharyngeal and oesophageal tumour. Conclusion: while conservative approach is advocated in all cases of meat bolus impaction for 24-48 hours to avoid possible attendant anaesthetic and surgical complications during rigid oesophagoscopy, it is imperative that contrast studies must be carried out on all patients with serial follow up to exclude any underlying malignancy after spontaneous disimpaction. Keywords: oesophagus , meaat bolus, foreign body elderly Nigerian Nigerian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology Vol. 3 (2) 2006: pp. 84-8