From the Bottlecap to the Bottleneck: Frequent Esophageal Impaction of Bottlecaps Among Young Males in a Small University Town.
Mattis Bertlich, Friedrich Ihler, Jan M Sommerlath Sohns and 2 others
PMID 33580816WHAT IT FOUND
Rigid endoscopy removed all 14 esophageal bottlecaps on the first attempt.
Flexible endoscopy pushed the cap into the stomach in three cases and required a second procedure in two. All patients were discharged within 48 hours.
Key findings
01Rigid esophagoscopy successfully recovered the bottlecap on the first attempt in all seven patients treated with this method.
02Flexible endoscopy resulted in the bottlecap lodging in the stomach for three of seven patients, with two requiring a procedure on a second day.
03All patients were discharged the same day or within 48 hours of removal, and none were readmitted for the same or another bottlecap.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This is a small retrospective case series of only 14 patients, which limits the reliability of the findings. The study was conducted in a specific university town with a strong fraternity culture, so the results may not apply to other populations. The authors note that the low complication rate may be due to the small sample size and the young, healthy status of the patients. The comparison between rigid and flexible endoscopy is based on very small numbers (seven in each group) and was not a randomized trial.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the German Research Foundation and the University Medical Center Göttingen. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that rigid endoscopy is universally superior to flexible endoscopy for all esophageal foreign bodies. This recommendation is based on a very small series of 14 patients with a specific type of object (bottlecaps) and should not be generalized to other foreign bodies or populations.