UAE: Patient with rare swallowing disorder undergoes life changing procedure

An Indian lady suffering from a rare swallowing disorder has found relief at a Dubai hospital after years of discomfort and pain.

For more than three years, Srinidhi, 26, had been experiencing constant chest pain, coughing, weight loss and a feeling of food getting stuck in her food pipe.

After visiting many doctors and undergoing several tests, she started losing hope after the treatments prescribed did not seem to alleviate her condition.

Describing her ordeal, Srinidhi said: “It got really bad. We do not realise how important it is to be able to swallow foods or liquids. It impacts your quality of life tremendously. The coughing and chest pain got so bad that I would prefer not eating, which in turn depleted my body of necessary nutrients that helps maintain health. I was constantly anxious, avoided social settings and could not make out what was wrong with me.”

In June 2022, she visited an experienced Gastroenterologist and Interventional Endoscopist at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, who, after corroborating the patient’s medical history and conducting an endoscopy, esophageal manometry and barium aided x-rays, diagnosed her with a rare swallowing condition that affects one in 100,000 people worldwide - Achalasia Cardia, a swallowing disorder in which the pressure of the sphincter muscle controlling the passage of food from the food pipe to the stomach gets elevated.

The doctor explained that it was coupled with the inability of the muscles in the food pipe to contract effectively to push the food down into the stomach.

Dr Gaurav Muktesh, Specialist Gastroenterologist at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, said: “In Achlasia Cardia, the food pipe can get hugely dilated and tortuous. This leads to difficulty in swallowing, chest pain, weight loss, nutritional deficiencies and aspiration of food contents into the windpipe resulting in coughing and lung infections.”