Abstract: Objective To investigate the cause and treatment of iatrogenic tracheobronchoesophageal fistula and provide experiences for clinic treatment. Methods Between January 1995 to December 2008, 21 patients with tracheobronchoesophageal fistula were treated in Shanghai Chest Hospital and Shanghai 6th Hospital. Among them, iatrogenic fistula happened in 12 patients including 8 males and 4 females whose age ranged from 35 to 74 years old with an average age of 47. Fistula developed 21 d to 5 years after the treatment of the primary diseases which were mainly tumors. Two of them developed tracheoesophageal fistula, 10 bronchoesophageal fistula; 6 right bronchoesophageal fistula, and 4 left bronchoesophageal fistula. Fistula excision and surgical repair of the tracheobronchoesophageal fistula were performed on 2 patients; Lung lobectomy and repair of the esophageal fistula were performed on 5 patients; Tracheal fistula repair and pneumonectomy with reconstruction of the digestive tract were done on the rest 5 patients. Results No operative death occurred. Postoperative complications in 2 cases were cured without recurrence. In the 1year followup to all the 12 patients, no recurrence of fistula occurred. Conclusion Iatrogenic tracheobronchoesophageal fistula is a complex and severe disease for which surgery is the only best treatment.
Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of fistula repair by stapler technique in patients with cervical tracheoesophageal fistula. Methods Retrospective analysis of 8 patients with cervical tracheoesophageal fistula who accepted operative treatment in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Lanzhou University Second Hospital from October 2014 to October 2016 was conducted. There were 5 males and 3 females at a mean age of 46.4±13.9 years ranging from 23 to 67 years. The fistula was induced by tracheal intubation in 4 patients, by esophageal foreign bodies in 2, by tracheal stent in 1 and by esophageal diverticulum in 1. The fistula was closed by stapler technique. The surgical effects were evaluated through Karnofsky performance score (KPS), image assessment, patient satisfaction score and assessment of improvement in feeding-induced bucking. Results The operations were performed successfully with time of 117.5±6.6 min and intraoperative blood loss of 60.0±7.0 ml. After the operations, the patients did not suffer incision bleeding and infection, hoarseness, dyspnea, drinking-induced bucking, fistula relapse, tracheoesophageal stenosis or any other complications, and no death occurred during the perioperative period. The chest X-ray test was performed 1 week later showed that the pulmonary infection disappeared, and only 1 patient suffered from esophageal stenosis 1 year later. The postoperative KPS score was 90.0±7.0 points, which significantly improved in contrast to preoperation (P<0.01). Postoperative pulmonary infection area reduced significantly (P<0.05), tracheoesophageal fistula disappeared, postoperative patients satisfaction rate was 90%, and assessment of feeding-induced bucking was excellent. Conclusion Using stapler technique to repair cervical tracheoesophageal fistula is safe, easy and useful, with less operation time and postoperative complications.
How to effectively repair esophageal fistulas, caused by esophageal perforation, rupture and anastomotic leakage after esophagectomy has always been a key problem for the digestive surgeon. Although there are many clinical treatment methods, the therapeutic effect is still completely unsatisfactory, especially when severe mediastinal purulent cavity infection is associated with the esophageal fistula. In recent years, foreign centers have promoted a new minimally invasive endoscopic treatment technology to repair the esophageal fistula, endoscopic vacuum-assisted closure therapy, with significantly curative effect. In this article, we will review the specific operation, advantages and disadvantages, as well as the clinical efficacy of endoscopic vacuum-assisted closure therapy in treating the esophageal fistulas, to provide a new therapeutic technique for esophageal fistulas and expand the new field of minimally invasive endoscopic therapy.