- Perforation may occur with sharp foreign bodies. This may lead to cellulitis or pleurisy and other complications.
- Rupture of the oesophagus admits pathogenic organisms to the mediastinum and fascial planes of the neck. Both are composed of loose connective tissue and communicate with each other.
- Infection spreads rapidly as a cellulitis, aided possibly by peristalsis and pulsation of the carotid arteries, and soon leads to pleurisy.
- Rupture is almost always fatal.