Etiology, treatment, and outcome of esophageal ulcers: A 10-year experience in an urban emergency hospital

Esophageal ulcers are a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This report describes the etiology, treatment, complications, and outcome of esophageal ulcers. An esophageal ulcer is defined as a discrete break in the esophageal mucosa with a clearly circumscribed margin; esophageal ulcers were seen in 88 patients from a total of 7564 esophagogastroduodenoscopies done by one surgeon at an urban hospital from 1991 to 2001. All hospital reports were reviewed. The etiology of esophageal ulcers included the following: gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) (n = 58, 65.9%), drug induced (n = 20, 22.7%), candidal (n = 3, 3.4%), caustic injury (n = 2, 2.3%), and herpes simplex virus (HSV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), marginal ulcer, foreign body, and unknown etiology (n = 1 of each, 1.1%). The mean size of GERD-induced esophageal ulcers and drug-induced esophageal ulcers was 2.78 and 2.92 cm, respectively; 80.3% of GERD-induced esophageal ulcers and 13.8% of drug-induced esophageal ulcers were located in the lower thoracic esophagus. Morbidity (n = 44, 50%) included hemorrhage (n = 30, 34%), esophageal stricture (n = 11, 12.5%), and esophageal perforation (n = 3, 3.4%). Nonoperative therapy sufficed in 81 patients (92%). Three patients (3.4%) had a recurrence of esophageal ulcers. Fifteen patients (17.0%) required endoscopic intervention including esophageal dilatation for stricture in 11 patients and endoscopic hemostasis for esophageal bleeding in four patients. Surgery (n = 7, 8.0%) was reserved for esophageal stricture and perforation. Two patients (2.3%) died from complications of esophageal ulcers: hemorrhage in one and perforation in one. Three patients died of their primary disease. GERD and drug ingestion are common causes of esophageal ulcers. Midesophageal ulcers have a greater tendency to hemorrhage compared with ulcers at the gastroesophageal junction; this may reflect the etiology. Strictures complicate GERD-induced esophageal ulcers but not drug-induced esophageal ulcers. Esophageal dilatation is an effective treatment for most strictures associated with esophageal ulcers. Esophageal ulcers rarely cause death.