What is diffuse esophageal spasm?

Diffuse esophageal spasm often causes patients to feel chest pain when swallowing food, working too hard,... This disease is currently unknown cause and still difficult to diagnose as well as provide appropriate treatment.

Diffuse esophageal spasm is understood as a disorder of esophageal muscle movement, esophageal smooth muscles contract irregularly. This is a rare disease with many spontaneous contractions and muscle contractions caused by the act of swallowing food, the duration can be different, the amplitude is large and repetitive.
People with diffuse esophageal spasm often have difficulty swallowing, the disease usually does not progress. The condition is considered mild when episodes of dysphagia alternate with periods of normal swallowing.
Factors that cause dysphagia can be mentioned such as: Stress, too much food, hot or cold liquids,... Patients often feel pain in the front of the chest, feeling like There is heavy pressure on the area behind the sternum, sometimes it can be mixed with angina attacks even though the patient is not overworked.
Diffuse esophagitis is considered a mild disease and is not life-threatening. The treatment trend is often to relieve symptoms, while encouraging the patient's mental stability.

The cause of the disease is still unknown, the symptoms are not clear, so it makes the diagnosis difficult. As a result, the patient is not treated promptly and makes the condition worse. This disease often occurs in people with a history of irritable bowel syndrome, achalasia, or some other gastrointestinal dysfunction.
In the early stages, patients often have chest pain for no apparent reason. Then, the pain appeared more after each time swallowing food, working too hard, suddenly changing position, ... making the patient worry and complain.

The pain can radiate from the bottom of the jaw to the arm, in many cases the pain spreads to the area behind the shoulder blade. The severity of each pain may vary. When a person's mental stress is too high, symptoms may be more frequent and intense, but they may decrease after exercise.
Typical symptoms of diffuse esophageal spasm include:
Swallowing Heartburn Chest pain not related to the heart No signs of esophageal obstruction In rare cases, the patient may have reflux. saliva during contractions.

3.1 Barite esophagography With this method, it is difficult to obtain typical images in patients with diffuse esophageal spasm. Most of the time, the esophagus can be seen to be twisted like a bead or colon, caused by the esophageal sphincter muscle contraction. In cases where multiple esophageal diverticula are observed along with anterior chest pain, the physician may immediately suspect diffuse esophageal spasm.
3.2 Conduct esophageal manometry The esophageal pressure of a normal person when swallowing is 15-25 mmHg, for areas of constriction the pressure can be up to 225-430 mmHg. Esophageal spasm with high amplitude and prolonged duration are features that help diagnose the disease.
3.3 Flexible tube endoscopy
Using this method can help eliminate cases of patients with esophageal tumors, esophagitis or esophagitis.
3.4 Combined method For asymptomatic patients, contrast esophagography can be used in conjunction with esophageal manometry.

Keep your mind at ease, avoid stress during meals. Use soft, easy-to-swallow foods and divide them into small pieces. Some medications can be used to improve dysphagia and pain: Muscle relaxants , anticholinergic drugs,... In addition, in some cases, thoracic esophagectomy can be performed. For patients with signs of gastroesophageal reflux, it is necessary to combine treatment. Diffuse esophageal spasm with gastroesophageal reflux. Currently, doctors around the world are still trying to find the best treatment for diffuse esophageal spasm. One of the ways to help people prevent this disease is to have regular health checkups. This helps patients get treatment early and limit complications of the disease.