Case report shows urgent esophageal decompression reverses respiratory failure from achalasia, indicating effective intervention is vital.
Massive esophageal dilation from achalasia can cause acute respiratory failure via lung compression. Prompt recognition and urgent esophageal decompression can rapidly reverse hypoxia and be lifesaving. After stabilization, temporizing or definitive achalasia therapies should be pursued to prevent recurrence.
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Epitropoulos et al. (2026) studied this question.
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