Dysphagia
Etiology
Esophageal dysphagia
- Mechanical obstruction (solids worse than liquids)
- Esophageal web, ring (eg, Schatzki's), or diverticulum (intermittent dysphagia, not progressive)
- Peptic stricture (chronic heartburn, progressive dysphagia)
- Esophageal cancer (progressive dysphagia, age >50)
- Motility disorder (solids and liquids)
- Achalasia (progressive dysphagia)
- Diffuse esophageal spasm (intermittent, not progressive)
- Scleroderma (chronic heartburn)
Oropharyngeal dysphagia
- Neurologic disorders
- Brainstem stroke, mass lesion
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, pseudobulbar palsy, postpolio syndrome, Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, dementia
- Tardive dyskinesia
- Muscular and rheumatologic disorders
- Myopathy, polymyositis
- Oculopharyngeal dystrophy
- Sjögren's syndrome
- Metabolic disorders
- Thyrotoxicosis, amyloidosis, Cushing's disease, Wilson's disease
- Drugs: anticholinergics, phenothiazines
- Infectious disease
- Polio, diphtheria, botulism, Lyme disease, syphilis, mucositis (Candida, herpes)
- Structural disorders
- Zenker's diverticulum
- Cervical osteophytes, cricopharyngeal bar, proximal esophageal webs
- Oropharyngeal tumors
- Postsurgical or radiation changes
- Pill-induced injury
- Motility disorders
- Upper esophageal sphincter dysfunction
See related DDx
Last updated: December 1, 2014
Citation
Zeiger, Roni F.. "Dysphagia." Diagnosaurus, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2014. Emergency Central, emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114465/all/Dysphagia.
Zeiger RFR. Dysphagia. Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2014. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114465/all/Dysphagia. Accessed October 15, 2024.
Zeiger, R. F. (2014). Dysphagia. In Diagnosaurus (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114465/all/Dysphagia
Zeiger RFR. Dysphagia [Internet]. In: Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2014. [cited 2024 October 15]. Available from: https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114465/all/Dysphagia.
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T1 - Dysphagia
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