[Total oesophageal resection with interposition of the left hemi-colon in a one-stage procedure (author's transl)]

Total oesophageal resection for cancer is a major procedure, involving surgery within the thoracic cage, the abdomen and the cervical mediastinum. Plastic restruction using a segment of colon which is placed retrosternally between the cervical oesophagus and the stomach, is an additional procedure of considerable difficulty. Most surgeons, therefore, prefer a two-stage operation. In order to spare patients the unpleasantness of a cervical fistula and a gastrostomy, the author describes a procedure of total resection of the oesophagus with interposition of the left hemi-colon in a one-stage procedure. Careful selection of patients is naturally imperative, but the immediate postoperative results enabling the patient to swallow again at once is most gratifying.