20 Years’ Experience On Esophageal Atresia

The aim of the study was to evaluate the problems and progresses of esophageal atresia (EA) treated in our department for 20 years at a single tertiary center for pediatric surgery. The study used a retrospective chart review of infants diagnosed with EA between 1991 and 2010. Patients were divided into 2 groups as Group I (1991-1998) and Group II (1999-2010) according to the years of diagnosis. All patients were also assessed regarding the prenatal history, delivery method and time, time of admission, diagnostic procedures, time of surgery, surgical techniques, associated anomaly, complications, and mortality rates. Mean weight of the cases was 1960±5.35 gr when they were admitted, 75% of deliveries was performed in hospital and 25% was at home. 85% of the babies was in term and 15% was preterm. Prenatal polyhydramnios story was detected in 55% of babies. Mean admittion time of the cases was 5.9±1.42 days. Almost all the patients admitted to our department had prediagnosis. The associated anomaly rate was 39%. Patients in Group I were operated immediately, and the ones in Group II were operated in elective conditions after being stabilized. As surgical technique, primary repair and end-to-end anastomosis were carried out in most of the cases. Most common intraoperative complication was iatrogenic pleural opening. The most common early period postoperative complications were pneumonia and atelectesia; late complication was gastroesophageal reflux. Overall mortality was 56% and this rate was 76% for Group 1 and 45% for Group 2. Respiratory insufficiency, pneumonia, and anastomotic leakage were the most common causes of mortality. This retrospective study performed in our department showed that corrected intensive care conditions and the developments in surgical techniques decreased preoperative and postoperative complications and mortality rates in esophageal atresia, which was one of the most anomalies seen in newborns.