HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bonnard, A. Articles by El Ghoneimi, A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Bonnard, A. Articles by El Ghoneimi, A. Related Collections Minimally invasive surgery

J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2007;134:1592-1593
© 2007 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief Communication

Laparoscopically harvested omental flap for recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula in a newborn baby

^a Department of General Paediatric Surgery and EA3102, Robert Debre Hospital and Paris VII University, Paris, France
^b Department of General Paediatric Surgery, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France
^c Department of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France.

Received for publication July 25, 2007; accepted for publication August 30, 2007.

^_* Address for reprints: Arnaud Bonnard, MD, Division of General Pediatric Surgery, Robert Debre Hospital and University Paris VII, EA3102, 48 Boulevard Serurier, 75019 Paris, France.

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Congenital esophageal atresia (EA) and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) are common surgical congenital abnormalities. In approximately 75% of patients, the EA repair can be done during the first days of life to repair the atresia and fix the TEF. Respiratory issues are usual in the postoperative course and may be related to tracheomalacia and gastroesophageal reflux. Recurrent TEF can occur in 10% to 15% of EA repairs¹ and remains challenging to treat. Several surgical solutions have been proposed, such as use of glue, diathermy,² and surgery. When surgery is required, some authors have reported the use of natural flap tissue between the esophageal anastomosis and the sutured trachea.^3-5 We report an original technique using an omental flap as a natural tissue harvested previously to the TEF repair with a laparoscopic approach.

Clinical Summary

We report the use of an omental flap tissue brought over the tracheal closure and sutured between the trachea and the esophagus for 2 patients with recurrent TEF. The flap was dissected and taken down before the TEF repair with a laparoscopic approach. The data are shown in Tables 1 and 2.