Management of esophageal atresia: review of 16 years' experience.

This report reviews 16 years' experience in the management of patients with esophageal atresia (EA) and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), with special emphasis on long-term results and early complications in relation to the magnitude of the gap between the esophageal segments. In 94 infants with no or moderate distance between the esophageal ends (less than 2 cm), an end-to-end anastomosis was performed in 90 cases after closing the TEF. In 51 of the 90 patients, no complications were seen (57%), whereas in the remaining 39, postoperative complications were noted with anastomotic leakage (24 patients, 26%), anastomotic stricture (16 patients, 18%) and gastroesophageal reflux (5 patients, 5%). Sixteen patients (9 with and 7 without TEF) had a "long gap" between the esophageal segments (greater than 2 cm). Thirteen (9 with and 4 without TEF) of these 16 patients were subjected to an end-to-end anastomosis, 11 primarily and two secondarily after 3 and 12 weeks, respectively. All 13 patients with an end-to-end anastomosis had anastomotic leakage (100%)--nine had stricture (75%) and 5 had gastroesophageal reflux (50%). The remaining three patients in this long-gap group were subjected to colon transposition, two primarily and one secondarily. The total mortality rate decreased from 19/57 patients (33%) from 1969 to 1977, to 5/53 (9%) from 1978 to 1984. The main cause of death in both periods was associated anomalies (18% and 7%, respectively), whereas deaths related to the EA malformation as such had almost disappeared during the latter period (15% and 2%, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)