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Eur J Pediatr Surg 2013; 23(03): 182-190
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1347915
Review
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Replacement Surgery for Esophageal Atresia

Stavros P. Loukogeorgakis
1   Pediatric Surgery Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, United Kingdom
,
Agostino Pierro
2   Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

25 April 2013

25 April 2013

Publication Date:
29 May 2013 (online)

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Abstract

Esophageal replacement surgery is the treatment of choice in children with esophageal atresia (EA) when a long defect does not allow restoration of esophageal continuity, or when primary repair has failed. The stomach, colon, and small intestine have been used successfully to create conduits, but there is still no consensus among pediatric surgeons regarding the optimal method for substituting the native esophagus. Current evidence on short- and long-term outcomes of esophageal replacement originates from small-size, retrospective reports and well-designed comparative studies are lacking. Moreover, there is significant heterogeneity in the way outcomes are reported, which makes data pooling and comparison very challenging. In this review, we focus on the most recent evidence on outcomes of the most popular replacement techniques (colonic interposition, gastric transposition, gastric tube reconstruction, and jejunal interposition) used in pediatric patients with EA.

Keywords

esophageal atresia - esophageal replacement - colonic interposition - gastric transposition - gastric tube - jejunal interposition
 

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