Long-term functional results and quality of life after colon interposition for long-gap oesophageal atresia.

Out of a series of 146 patients with oesophageal atresia 9 (6.2%) underwent colon interposition from 1963 to 1971. All eight surviving patients were seen at follow-up after a mean of 22 years. Three patients were free of specific symptoms according to the criteria of DeMeester, two had moderate and three severe distress. The mean time for consuming a standardized test meal was 15 minutes, compared to 8 minutes in healthy controls. Patients required 1-9 minutes to transport liquid barium through the transplant, compared to < 10 seconds in control subjects. Histological evaluation revealed a normal architecture of the colonic and ileal epithelium in three patients who underwent endoscopy. In none of these patients were contractions in the colon graft related to the act of swallowing recorded on manometry. Unimpaired quality of life was indicated by the Spitzer index which scored a mean of nine out of ten points. However, on a 100point visual analogue scale patients scored their global quality of life 66 and the mean Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index was 92.2, compared to 107.6 in healthy control subjects (p < 0.05). This impairment was exclusively due to specific symptoms which scored 49.3 in patients and 59 in healthy individuals (p < 0.05). Physical and social functions, emotions, and inconvenience of a medical treatment were similar to control subjects. We conclude that colon interposition for long-gap oesophageal atresia achieves acceptable long-term functional results. However, specific symptoms lead to a considerable impairment in quality of life.