What is the foreign body sensation in the esophagus? Be careful of esophageal cancer

If you experience a foreign body sensation in the esophagus, you must take it seriously. This is likely a symptom of esophageal cancer. Generally, esophageal cancer is discovered in the late stages. A foreign body sensation in the esophagus is the most typical symptom of esophageal cancer, so you must get checked in time.

1. What are the clinical manifestations of esophageal cancer?

1. Foreign body sensation in the esophagus: About 1/5 of patients feel a foreign body sensation in the esophagus when swallowing.

Patients often explain that they have scratched their esophagus due to eating rough food, or suspect that some foreign body is left in the esophagus, such as a vegetable leaf, rice grain or pepper shell attached to the esophageal wall.

The feeling of being unable to spit out or swallow. This early manifestation of esophageal cancer is related to the cancer on the esophageal wall stimulating the deep nerves.

2. Dryness and tightness in the throat. About 1/3 of the patients complain of dryness and tightness in the throat or neck, difficulty swallowing, and sometimes mild pain in the throat. This may be related to reduced glandular secretion and food contraction caused by esophageal inflammation and esophageal lesions.

3. Choking when swallowing food. About half of the patients have this symptom in the early stage. The reason for this symptom is not the mechanical obstruction of esophageal cancer, but the inflammation and edema of the cancerous part. When swallowing food, it stimulates the diseased esophagus to produce hemorrhage. Patients often have a choking feeling when eating, which is often described as pressure or choking and is often related to the patient's mood swings. Many patients associate the occurrence of this symptom with anger.

4. Slow passage and stagnation of food. Some patients feel that the food bolus moves slowly when swallowing food, and sometimes it seems to stop at a certain position in the esophagus. Some patients figuratively compare the esophagus to a staircase, and the food moves down in a jerky manner. Swallowing food has the same feeling as swallowing water, which appears when eating and disappears after eating, and gradually worsens. This symptom is not caused by the blocking effect of the tumor itself, but by the contractile dysfunction caused by esophageal wall lesions.

2. Examination methods for esophageal cancer

For suspicious cases, double contrast X-ray of the esophagus should be performed by swallowing dilute barium. Early findings include: ① disordered, rough or interrupted esophageal mucosal folds; ② small filling defects; ③ localized tube wall stiffness and interrupted peristalsis; ④ small niches. In the middle and late stages, there are obvious irregular stenosis and filling defects, and the tube wall is stiff. Sometimes there is varying degrees of dilation of the esophagus on the oral side above the stenosis. B-ultrasound examination to check whether there is metastasis to the liver or other organs. Laboratory tests include anemia and carcinoembryonic antigen testing. CT scan to check for metastasis to the brain, lungs, etc.