What causes difficulty swallowing and food regurgitation?

Question

Hello doctor,

I seem to have something caught in my throat. When I try to swallow, my throat closes up and I vomit whatever I was trying to eat or drink. If I sit for a time, the excess saliva in my mouth will not even go down.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have read your query. It looks like you either have a neuromuscular disorder of the esophagus or an esophageal motility disorder. There are several types of it.

1. Zenker's diverticulum. Do you vomit foul-smelling, newly-digested food? Zenker's is associated with intermittent difficulty in swallowing and regurgitation of old undigested food. There is excess salivation and also a nagging cough is present sometimes.

2. Diffuse esophageal spasm. It causes difficulty in swallowing and is associated with chest pain. There is drooling of saliva too. Do you have chest pain associated with the esophagus? If yes, then DES is a possibility.

3. Achalasia cardia. The classical symptoms are difficulty in swallowing, regurgitation of food, and weight loss. Have you noticed any weight loss in you? Difficulty in swallowing is initially for liquid food and then as the disease progresses it is also associated with solid foods.

4. Nutcracker esophagus. The complaints are similar to DES, like chest pain and difficulty in swallowing.

5. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. There is a regurgitation of newly digested food and also a burning sensation in the heart.

6. Tumor in the esophagus. The difficulty in swallowing shows a progressive increase in symptoms. And the difficulty is more for solid foods than liquid.

I feel your symptoms are suggestive of Zenker's most likely. However, for a confirmatory diagnosis, you will need further evaluation. Please get a barium swallow esophagography done. You will also need an upper GI endoscopy to evaluate further. In the case of Nutcracker, manometry test is diagnostic. Please visit your nearest hospital to get yourself evaluated further.