Transabdominal approach for management of Boerhaave's syndrome

Several transthoracic approaches have been described for the surgical management of Boerhaave's syndrome that carry their own morbidity in patients who can be systemically unwell at presentation, and best practice is not established. We introduce a novel transabdominal approach to manage the perforation and spare these patients the trauma of a thoracotomy. Four patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture were managed using a transabdominal approach. Postoperative complications, length of intensive care unit stay, postoperative hospital stay, time to oral intake, and morbidity and mortality were used as outcome measures. After operation, the median intensive care unit stay was 4 days (range, 0-5) in patients who required a median of 10.5 days (range, 6-17) to establish oral intake. One patient required a transthoracic drainage of an empyema and one patient required percutaneous drainage of a mediastinal collection. The median length of stay was 38 days and there was zero mortality. The transabdominal approach is safe and effective for the management of Boerhaave's syndrome and should be considered in the treatment paradigm for this condition. Intrathoracic complications account for postoperative morbidity.