This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical features and complication such as esophageal stricture in children with corrosive esophagitis.

We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 31 children who accidentally ingested corrosive materials and visited to emergency room of Chonnam National University Hospital from Jan. 1992 to Dec. 1999. Twenty-one children were examined by upper gastrointestinal(UGI) endoscopy to evaluate location and severity of caustic injury.

1) Among 31 patients, there were 20 males and 11 females and the ratio of male to female was 2:1. Average age at diagnosis was 2.3 years (12months to 9.8 years). Twenty-seven(87.1%) patients were accidentally ingested vinegar. 2) Initial presenting symptoms were dysphagia(54.8%), vomiting(48.3%), chemical burn on lips and skin(45.2%), excessive salivation(45.2%), coughing and respiratory grunting(32.3%) and aspiration pneumonia(9.8%). 3) UGI endoscopic examination showed caustic injury in 17 children : grade I in 8, grade II in 7 and grade III in 2. The region of caustic injury was proximal esophagus in 5, distal esophagus in 3, entire esophagus in 9 and stomach in 6. 4) Corrosive esophageal strictures developed in 6 children(19.4%) and gastric outlet stricture in 1(3.2%). All of them showed grade II or III caustic injury on endoscopic examination.

The development of esophageal stricture was related to the severity of the caustic injury. Early UGI endoscopic examination in caustic ingestion seems to be useful for prediction of development of caustic stricture.