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Surgeon Rushes 200 Kilometers to Save 77-Year-Old With Rare Esophageal Rupture

The veteran Trento surgeon drove under police escort to perform a four-hour repair of a rare, often deadly esophageal tear.

Overview

  • Doctors diagnosed Boerhaave syndrome after the man overate lentils and forcefully vomited, sending gastric contents into his chest.
  • Dottor Alberto Brolese led an emergency esophageal suture lasting four hours, and the patient has been reported as improving and out of immediate danger.
  • The surgeon noted that such ruptures can have mortality around 80% without rapid intervention, particularly in older patients with less elastic tissues.
  • He interrupted his holiday to take the case, saying the on-call colleague lacked the experience needed for such a complex, high-risk operation.
  • The team expects to document the case in the scientific literature, and Brolese urged moderation at holiday meals due to risks like alcoholic hepatitis, biliary colic, pancreatitis and gastrointestinal perforations.