Gastric pull-up by the retrosternal route for esophageal replacement: Feasibility in a limited-resource scenario

The authors herein report the results of esophageal replacement by gastric pull-up technique through the retrosternal route as an option for esophageal replacement in a resource-constrained setup.

Prospectively collected data upon twenty-two consecutive patients (male:female = 17:5) with mean age 24.9 months (7 months-12 years) and mean weight 7.9 kg (4.2-32 kg) who underwent retrosternal gastric pull-up for esophageal atresia (n = 18; 16 atresia with distal fistula & 2 pure atresia) and corrosive injuries to the esophagus (n = 4) over the past 8 years are presented. The management protocol and surgical technique have been described. Observations parameters included indication for esophageal replacement, age at surgery, sex of the child and other demographic details, clinical and operative findings, post-operative outcomes and follow-up details.

Retrosternal gastric pull-up could be performed in all cases with no mortality or graft loss. Of 22, 20 cases were extubated on-table and 2 cases were extubated within 48 hours of surgery. Mean operative duration was 265 min (range: 175 min to 310 min) and blood loss was 115.3 ml (range: 80-400 ml). Dense vascular adhesions in the region of the esophageal hiatus were encountered in patients with abdominal esophagostomy (n = 4) which were probably related to the local dissection at the time of previous surgery. Minor anastomotic leak was observed in 8 of 22 patients which settled spontaneously over 21 days mean period (range: 18 to 31 days). Antegrade dilatation was required in 3 of 8 cases with minor leak. None of them required revision of anastomosis. Mean follow-up duration is 63 months (range: 11 months - 94 months). Weight gain after surgery was close to or beyond the 25th centile. Symptoms of dumping syndrome or GER were not observed in our cohort.

Our data have demonstrated the safety and feasibility of esophageal replacement by gastric transposition through the retrosternal route in a resource-limited setup. No significant difference has been observed from the results and complications reported in literature for the same procedure.

Prospective observational study / treatment study.

Level III.