[Bridging extensive esophageal atresias by a peritoneal transplant]

A method is presented that represents a modification of Rehbein's perlon filament technique for treating extensive oesophageal atresias. This new approach enables, in case of congenital oesophageal defects exceeding three vertebral bodies in length, to eventually perform end-to-end anastomosis of the patient's oesophagus. For this purpose, the distance between the mobilised oesophageal segments that are interconnected by means of a centrally positioned perlon filament, is additionally bridged over with a peritoneal cylinder in the sense of an autotransplant. The advantages of the method are the creation of a wide preformed channel for subsequent bougineages, the protective effect exercised on the mediastinum to prevent possible inflammatory conditions, and especially the continuous traction exercised on both oesophageal pouches by the shrinking of the transplant resulting in a ring-shaped stenosis that is easy to resect and can be bypassed via end-to-end anastomosis. We treated according to this method from 1982 onwards seven children with congenital oesophageal atresias extending over the length of three to seven vertebral bodies; four of these patients now present with patent oesophageal passage.