OBJECTIVE: This study assessed food intake by patients with dysphagia due to esophageal stricture and compared liquid, soft and solid diets based on the Brazilian Food guide pyramid. METHODS: This cross-sectional study consecutively included 31 patients with esophageal stricture, of which 18 (58.0%) were caustic, 7 (22.6%) were postoperative, 3 (9.7%) were peptic and 3 (9.7%) were of unknown etiology. The 24-hour dietary recall was used and the foods were converted into servings according to the eight food groups, as recommended by Philippi. The Kruskal-Wallis and Fisher's Exact Test were used and the significance level was set at 5%. RESULTS: The ages of the patients varied from 15 to 176 months (median: 56 months). There were 28 children and 3 adolescents, of which 28 were males. Twenty-nine patients (93.5%) presented dysphagia, of which 34.4% (10/29) were severe, 41.3% (12/29) were moderate and 24.1% (7/29) were mild. The median intake of grain, legume and fat servings was smaller in the liquid diet group (p<0.005). This group also had a significantly greater proportion of patients whose intakes were below those recommended by the food pyramid (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Nutritional support is extremely important in the treatment of patients with esophageal stricture, especially those with severe dysphagia. These patients need a liquid diet because of the nutritional risk associated with inadequate food intake, which also allows early introduction of the dietary treatment.
Food consumption; Esophageal stenosis; Food pyramid; Deglutition disorders
