[The management of corrosive oesophagitis (author's transl)].
Regardless of the treatment used against corrosive oesophagitis, the laryngologist must play a role from the beginning and throughout the course. The fibroblasts and collagen fibres which results are the natural agents of healing but, at the same time, are responsible for virtually inexorable stenosis if the corrosion has passed through to the muscular layers. Infection is constant and contributes to stenosis. The effectiveness of antibiotics is certain. They must be used from the beginning and continued for as long as necessary. As far as fibroiss is concerned, dilatations remain the basic treatment, their application requiring great experience and much patience and tenacity. Replacement surgery is attractive. It comes up against the stenosing perioesophageal inflammatory process which tends to die down in time but remains active for a long period. The nENT specialist must therefore pay careful attention from the very end of the postoperative period onwards. The gravity of oesophageal burns justifies intensification of preventive measures. Since it impossible to complete eliminate corrosive oesophagitis, efforts must be directed towards the discovery of substances capable of inhibiting collagen synthesis. Corticosteroids used in the treatment of shock do not prevent stenosis. In the laboratory, B.A.P.N. has shown its effectiveness in the rat. Also in the rat, particularly difficult experiments are in progress using penicillinamine. Although such methods have as yet to be extended to human clinical use, there are nevertheless grounds for hope.