Pericardial repair of a tracheal laceration during transhiatal esophagectomy.

Transhiatal esophagectomy has recently been popularized for both benign and malignant esophageal disease. While we were performing a transhiatal esophagectomy for a squamous cell cancer of the upper third of the esophagus, a tear in the membranous trachea near the carina occurred. This was repaired through the cervical incision with a free pericardial patch. This solution to a potentially catastrophic complication of transhiatal esophagectomy gave a satisfactory result without early or late postoperative respiratory complications.