A 55-year-old male is sent to your office to have an . He is a heavy drinker and smoker who also consumes spicy foods on a daily basis. He is quite anxious about having the procedure performed and is afraid he might choke during insertion of the scope. His father and younger brother were both diagnosed with esophageal cancer. His father died, but the brother was just recently diagnosed and is taking chemotherapy. A. List the risk factors the patient has for developing esophageal cancer.
B. How might you calm the patient's fears about the procedure?

Answer and Explanation:

A. The risk factors for this patient are age, family history, and smoking and alcoholism. That's because, most cases of esophageal cancer are detected at age 55 years. We must not forget that cancer is a disease with great genetic potential, which means that, as the father and brother of this patient had this type of cancer, this patient has a high probability of developing the same cancer. Furthermore, the constant consumption of cigarettes doubles the risk of developing esophageal cancer. This risk is also increased by alcoholism.

B. To calm the patient down, I would say that there is a very small and almost non-existent risk that he will choke or even feel the endoscopy insertion, as the entire procedure is done with the patient anesthetized and sedated.