Morbid musculoskeletal sequelae of thoracotomy for tracheoesophageal fistula

The standard surgical approach for tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is right dorso-lateral thoracotomy. The late musculoskeletal consequences of the operation have been evaluated only rarely. Two hundred and seventy-seven patients with TEF were operated upon during the past 16 years, 117 of whom were available for long term (3 to 16 year) study. Twenty-nine of the patients had significant musculoskeletal deformities: (1) Twenty-one patients (23.8%) had prominent elevation of the right shoulder or "winged" scapula secondary to partial paralysis of the latissimus dorsi muscle; (2) Eighteen (20%) had marked asymmetry of the thoracic wall from atrophy of the serratus anterior muscle; (3) Nine (10%) had fusion of the ribs, in one of whom major respiratory dysfunction was a consequence; (4) Seven (7.8%) had severe thoracic scoliosis. The deformity was not of sufficient severity to warrant surgical correction but all patients required physiotherapy; (5) In two children (2.2%), fixation of the skin cicatrix to the bony thorax limited the mobility of the ipsilateral shoulder; (6) And finally, in three girls (3.3%), the thoracotomy scar disfigured the right breast leading to mammary maldevelopment in one adolescent. The latter child required plastic release of the entrapped breast. The dorso-lateral thoracic incision for tracheoesophageal atresia may lead to significant musculoskeletal complications and, since other alternatives are available, should be reevaluated as the recommended surgical approach.