[Surgical repair of postintubation esophago-tracheal fistulas: report of two cases surgically repaired].

Persistence of postintubation esophago-tracheal fistulas is a difficult therapeutic problem. Authors present and discuss two successfully operated cases. Surgical reconstruction was done via left lateral cervical approach, including dissection of the fistulous tract, closure of the defect on both sides by suture, exclusion of the esophagus with a linear stapler beyond a loop esophagostomy, separation the suture lines with interposing of omohioid muscle flap, and making a Pezzer-catheter splinted esophagostomy. In the first case the spontaneous recanalization of the occluded esophagus was prolonged and the fistula recurred. Reoperation was done by the same procedure without exclusion of the esophagus. The second patient needed intervention because of the prolonged closure of esophagostomy. Recovery of both patients was successful. In conclusion, it can be stated that adaptation of surgical techniques for the individual pathologic situation helped the authors to find the way to the successful outcome.