ESOPHAGEAL DIVERTICULUM FROM THE HISTORICAL POINT OF VIEW: LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Objective. Knowledge of the history of a medical pathology and of medicine in general is necessary in shaping the medical future in the coming decades. The first mention of esophageal diverticulum belongs to Ludlow of Bristol (1764), who, during the dissection of a corpse, discovered an "unnatural pocket". The anatomical piece is preserved in the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. In 1877, Zenker and von Ziemssen were the first to classify esophageal diverticula as types of traction and pulsation. Wheeler of Dublin in 1886 performed the first successful diverticulectomy, and in 1892 Bergman and Kocher reported cases with brio. In the Republic of Moldova in 1975, Afanasie Jitaru and Dumitru Ursachi first performed diverticulectomy. Currently, the European Society of gastrointestinal Endoscopy recommends flexible endoscopic treatment at the expense of open surgical treatment as a first-line therapy for patients with symptomatic Zenker diverticulum of any size.

Materials and methods. The materials used in writing this article were searched via NCBI, Medline and PubMed. A number of books and articles from the medical scientific library of the “Nicolae Testemitanu“ State University of Medicine and Pharmacy were consulted, out of which 30 works were selected.

Results. The study highlighted the difficulties in elucidating all aspects of esophageal diverticula that remain to this day.

Conclusions. The study of the problem has an undulating character and depends directly on technical progress and improvement of surgical techniques. Because the causes of the disease are not yet well studied, taking into account the anatomical and physiological aspects, elements of diagnosis and treatment, it is necessary to look through the prism of the history of medicine in the hope that a better understanding of it will ensure the implementation of a diagnostic-curative algorithm, preoperative training, surgical tactics, and postoperative management of patients with esophageal diverticula.