Esophageal Motility Disorder

An esophageal motility disorder (EMD) is any medical disorder causing difficulty in swallowing, regurgitation of food and a spasm-type pain which can be brought on by an allergic reaction to certain foods. The most prominent one is dysphagia.

Esophageal motility disorder may be a result of CREST syndrome, referring to the five main features: calcinosis, Raynaud syndrome, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly and telangiectasia.

Symptoms

There are contractions along the lower esophagus when this condition happens. These contractions prevent the passage of food.

Types

Dysphagia could be for solid only or for solid and liquid.

• Solid dysphagia is due to obstruction such as esophageal cancer, esophageal web, or stricture.
• Solid plus liquid dysphagia is due to esophageal motility disorder (or dysmotility) either in the upper esophagus (myasthenia gravis, stroke, or dermatomyositis) or lower esophagus (systemic sclerosis, CREST syndrome, or achalasia).

If there is a food allergy causing an EMD, then physicians recommend an elimination diet. If this fails, then physicians will prescribe special types of Medication to help resolve this problem.

See also