Dysphagia: Difficulty in swallowing. commonest clinical.

Odynophagia: painful swallowing – inflammation, ulcer

Sites: oropharyngeal, esophageal, esophagogastric

Symptoms

• Solids – Mechanical Obstruction – tumors/strictures.
• Solids & Liquids – Motility disorders – Achalasia (increased lower sphincter tone).
• Liquids – Pharyngeal disorders.

Causes

• Local, Systemic, central.
• Mechanical (stricture, tumour), neural, functional (Achalasia, aperistalsis).
• Ulcers, tears, webs, rings, tumours, strictures, neural.

Disorders

Reflux Oesophagitis. (commonest)

Barrett’s Oesophagus

Oesophageal Cancer

• Achalasia
• Congenital
• Stricture (Plum. Vinson)
• Oesophageal Varices
• Mallory-Weiss tear

Plummer-Vinson syndrome (PVS)