Is the effectiveness of soft drinks for dislodging food in the throat a myth?

Food bolus impaction into the esophagus is a common medical emergency, especially during the holiday season.Food boluses are most often made up of poorly chewed meat. The problem tends to occur more frequently in men and often requires an emergency endoscopy, an invasive and expensive procedure that can also be quite unpleasant.A solution often shared on the Internet to overcome food problems at home is to consume a soft drink. Some studies have seemed to show in the past that taking a carbonated drink, such as cola, would help dislodge stuck foods due to the effervescent agents found in them.In a recent study published in the BMJ, researchers sought to verify the effectiveness of cola consumption as a pre-endoscopic treatment for patients presenting to the emergency room with food impaction.Read: Weird and wonderful things lost then found inside the human bodyStudy resultsThe study included 51 adults with complete bolus impaction of the esophagus, defined as a sudden inability to evacuate saliva after consuming food.Most bolus impactions were caused by meat, while others were caused by bread, fries or sauerkraut.Among the participants, 28 people were invited to regularly drink, at one-minute intervals, sips of Coca-Cola from uncooled cans. Each sip contained 25 ml of cola.The 23 patients in the control group simply waited, without drinking or pre-endoscopic treatment.A total of 61% of people in the group who took cola saw their condition improve—the food passed completely or partially. On the other hand, 61% of patients who simply waited also saw their condition improve.Thus, the researchers inferred that cola consumption did not result in a higher rate of improvement in complete esophageal bolus impaction.“Taking into account the absence of adverse effects in the treated group and the resolution of some events after treatment, cola can be considered as a first-line treatment, but should not delay management planning endoscopic,” the researchers concluded.Read: Refresher on gout: the only curable arthritisThis article was translated from its original French and was first published on our sister site ProfessionSante.ca.

Is the effectiveness of soft drinks for dislodging food in the throat a myth?

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics