Background: Rupture of the esophagus which is not iatrogenic or due to carcinoma, Mallory Weiss syndrome, or foreign body is called a spontaneous rupture of esophagus or Boerhaave syndrome. Symptoms are not specific and include back or retrosternal chest pain, crepitus on chest wall palpation, or mediastinal crackle. Esophagus rupture could have dyspnea, tachypnea, tachycardia, and dullness in the chest exam due to pleural effusion beside the pain.
Case presentation: In this report, we had two cases with rupture of the esophagus due to soda (bicarbonate) use with no remarkable past medical history. Both patients had stable vitals when they came to the Emergency Department. Diagnosis was confirmed by chest CT scan. One of the patients did not take any invasive treatment and there was no need for operation. The other patient underwent thoracotomy and esophageal repair. Both of them had good general condition after some days.
Conclusion: We recommend not englutting excessive amounts of soda why it can cause rupture of the esophagus in patients with unknown esophageal wall weakness or healthy esophagus.
Key words: Spontaneous rupture, esophagus, Boerhaave syndrome, bicarbonate, thoracotomy, case report
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