Also called: Jackhammer esophagus
Hypercontractile esophagus, also known as Jackhammer esophagus, is a rare esophageal motility disorder where the muscles in the esophagus contract with abnormally high intensity during swallowing. These contractions are extremely strong but still coordinated, unlike in some other esophageal disorders. The esophagus “over-contracts” but still pushes food downward. It’s detected via a test called high-resolution esophageal manometry, which measures the pressure and patterns of muscle contractions in the esophagus. On this test, Jackhammer esophagus shows very high distal contractile integral (DCI) values (a measure of contraction strength).
