TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF INTERACTION WITH ESOPHAGEAL ATRESIA AND TRACHEO-ESOPHAGEAL FISTULA.

Clinical presentation and management modalities for 585 patients of esophageal atresia and/or tracheo-esophageal fistula reporting to Department of Paediatric Surgery, SMS Medical College, Jaipur over twenty five years (1972-1996) were analyzed in five phases of five years each retrospectively. Over the period of observation, the incidence of new cases as well the number of associated anomalies have shown a steady increase due to availability of modern diagnostic facilities. The operative mortality has shown a progressive decline from 95% early in the series to 40% in last few years. Post-operative anastomotic leaks occurred in 21% of cases, strictures in 8% and recurrent fistula in 1% of cases. The presence of severe associated anomalies, prematurity, pulmonary complications and sepsis still remain the major killers in our setup. Early detection and referral has lead to more infants reaching the specialized centres with less pulmonary complications. In the last decade, the survival rate for infants in Waterston's risk group A has improved to 86% but there is still a substantial difference in the survival rate reported from developed countries. The various factors resulting in poorer results in our set up have been highlighted.