Esophagitis: Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Esophagitis is inflammation or injury to the esophageal mucosa (Antunes & Sharma, 2023). Causes of esophagitis include gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), radiation, infections, local injury due to medications, pill esophagitis, eosinophilic, and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) (Antunes & Sharma, 2023; Hoversten et al., 2018).
According to Antunes & Sharma, (2023) one of the most common causes of esophagitis is reflux, which occurs because of the reflux of gastric contents. They additionally report that bacteria, viruses, fungal and parasitic microorganisms can cause infection esophagitis. Infection esophagitis can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungal and parasitic microorganisms with the most common being fungal. Esophagitis can also be caused by radiation and chemotherapy, which may present in both acute and chronic forms (Antunes & Sharma, 2023; Davila et al., 2008). Pill-induced esophagitis is often associated with oral bisphosphonates and antibiotics as well as NSAIDs, aspirin, ferrous sulfate, potassium chloride, and mexiletine (Antunes & Sharma, 2023).
Esophagitis can be diagnosed based on clinical examination and history, however endoscopy and biopsy examination are required to differentiate subtypes of esophagitis (Antunes & Sharma, 2023). While GERD may overlap with the conditions mentioned in this review, it’s important to carefully assess all diagnostic options before reaching a final diagnosis - although acid is often seen as the primary cause of esophageal disorders, at times, it may be merely incidental, and the true source of the disease could lie elsewhere (Grossi et al., 2017).
Treatment of esophagitis depends on the etiology; however, options may include acid suppression, liquid to soft or pureed diet to provide time for healing and diet modifications, change or discontinuation of certain medications, and lifestyle changes, which may include weight loss, sleeping elevated, reducing or eliminating dietary triggers, among other recommendations (Antunes & Sharma, 2023; Feo-Ortega, & Lucendo, 2022).
To learn more, check out the references cited in this post.
