Patulous Esophagus Definition, Symptoms, Causes, Treatment

Patulous esophagus is defined as widening of the esophagus. Patulous is a word which means opening up or distended and esophagus is a tube which is hollow and muscular. Esophagus connects throat to the stomach. There are two sphincters in esophagus. One sphincter is present at the upper end of stomach and is known as pyloric sphincter other sphincter is present at the lower end of stomach which is named as distill sphincter. In patulous esophagus, these sphincters become wide open which causes difficulty in digestion. It leads to various complications and the most common one is gastroesophageal reflux.

The food content passes rapidly through the esophagus and causes problem in metabolism. Esophagus is the main part of gastrointestinal tract and any problem in this part can disturb the whole system of digestion. It is a common condition and can affect 90 Percent of patients with disorder. In patulous esophagus, the distill part ofesophagus is usually affected (distill two third part).  In patulous esophagus, patient commonly experience nausea, vomiting, dysphagia and dyspepsia. Other than these, some symptoms occur which belongs to the larynx of esophagus. Talking about the causes of patulous esophagus, there are various contributing factors which causes this problem.

Patulous Esophagus Symptoms

Patulous esophagus is the widening of esophagus which causes problem with the digestion and metabolism of food. The following symptoms are associated with this.

• Patient may feel heaviness in stomach.
• The metabolism becomes fast and patient may feel warmth in body.
• Nausea is the common symptom.
• Some of the patient may experience vomiting too.
• Dyspepsia is another symptom in which the stomach acid does not work properly.
• Dysphagia is also the symptom in which patient face problems in digestion.
• Some of the symptoms are associated with the larynx part. These symptoms include hoarseness, pharyngitis and cough.

Patulous Esophagus Causes

There may be different causes behind patulous esophagus. Some of the common causes include Barrett's esophagus. In Barrett's esophagus, the inner lining of esophagus i.e. lumen is replaced with some other tissues which causes problem in digestion. Gerd is another main cause of patulous esophagus. Gerd is the abbreviation of gastroesophageal reflux disease. In this disease, due to widening of esophagus, the gastric contents move backwards to the esophagus. Other than these disorders, patulous esophagus may occur due to any infection because infection in esophagus can disturb the normal Flora and as a result complications occur.

Patulous Esophagus Treatment

Patulous esophagus can be treated with a surgery. And the surgery is named as laparoscopic antireflux surgery. Nissen fundoplication is another name of this surgery. It is performed to create a valve mechanism at the distill end of esophagus. This separate valve system helps a lot in avoiding the esophageal problems. It is mainly performed in gerd to avoid food content reflux. Patients who have not had abdominal surgery ever, may have this surgery. It is recommended in case of severe patulous esophagus. There are some medications which are used initially to treat this condition without surgery.