Intubation in carcinoma of the oesophagus.

Abstract

Radiotherapy has a definite place in the treatment of carcinoma of the oesophagus; in a large majority of cases regression of the tumour can be obtained by this method. Though few patients survive five years after treatment, its palliative value is evident by the number of patients who avoid terminal gastrostomy. Radiotherapy of advanced cases is frequently handicapped and complicated by the presence of very marked dysphagia. The benefit of radiotherapy would be greatly impaired if gastrostomy were to be performed before or during treatment, which is why intubation in the manner and in the circumstances described, increases the scope of radiation therapy in this field. In undernourished patients suffering from complete dysphagia of several days duration, intubation enables the patient to be prepared for radiation treatment: it is also useful in cases of dysphagia caused by congestive or oedematous reaction to radiation, occurring frequently after the first week of treatment. Obstructive symptoms caused by...