Esophageal bezoar resulting from nasogastric enteral feeding in an intensive care unit

We report two cases of oesophageal bezoar in patients given enteral nutrition by nasogastric tubing in an intensive care unit. These two complications occurred during the year following the replacement of our standard enteral feed by a new preparation enriched in proteins. In both patients, the bezoar could be endoscopically removed. The enteral feeding solution is likely to be responsible for the development of this complication because no other factor known to favour this complication such as concomitant administration of sulfacrate or anti-acid agents was given to the patients; and the bezoar developed shortly after the new enteral feeding solution was used, a hypothesis supported by several similar case reports in the medical literature.