Dysphagia
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Definition
Difficulty swallowing. Odynophagia is painful swallowing.
Epidemiology
Pathophysiology
Clinical and Associated Features
The most common is GORD. However, dysphagia is one of the few signs of oesophageal cancer so it's important to pick up.
- GORD - heartburn worse after eating and on lying down, nocturnal cough, regurgitation, nausea, acid taste in mouth, belching, bloating
- Oesophageal cancer - dysphagia (bad with bulky substances like bread and meat), odynophagia (spasmodic burning pain), weight loss, husky or raspy voice, nausea, vomiting, regurgitation, cough and aspiration pneumonia. Airway obstruction can occur in advanced disease.
- Achalasia - dysphagia, regurgitation, weight loss, coughing.
Differential Diagnosis
The two main ones are oesophageal cancer and GORD. Rare causes are achalasia and external compression (e.g. tumour).