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Approach to Patients with Esophageal Dysphagia

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A Mastery Approach to Complex Esophageal Diseases

Abstract

Dysphagia refers to the subjective sense that swallowing is impeded or hindered. Dysphagia is an alarm symptom, which must be investigated to rule out a potentially treatable disorder or malignancy. While commonly due to gastroesophageal reflux disease, symptomatic assessment is unreliable and barium swallow, flexible endoscopy and esophageal motility study are often required to secure a diagnosis and initiate therapy. Dysphagia is caused by both structural- and motility-based etiologies. Motility disorders responsible for dysphagia may be hypocontractile or hypercontractile. This chapter discusses the evaluation of dysphagia and disorders causative of dysphagia.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Davis 3N Surgery, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Steven P. Bowers M.D.

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  1. Steven P. Bowers M.D.
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Correspondence to Steven P. Bowers M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nebraska Medical Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    Dmitry Oleynikov

  2. Harvard Medical School, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA

    P. Marco Fisichella

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Bowers, S.P. (2018). Approach to Patients with Esophageal Dysphagia. In: Oleynikov, D., Fisichella, P. (eds) A Mastery Approach to Complex Esophageal Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75795-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75795-7_2

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