Thoracoscopic surgery of the oesophagus in rats: a training concept for the treatment of tracheo-oesophageal malformations in preterm infants.
In extremely preterm babies with type Vogt III b oesophageal atresia, the primary operative management can be restricted to a gastrostomy and ligation of the fistula. Some of these patients, however, may not even tolerate a thoracotomy or placement on the operating table. We developed a minimally invasive procedure to prepare and ligate the oesophagus thoracoscopically and perform laparoscopic gastrostomy in a rat model. In 15 operations we observed only one complication. This study implies that after adequate practice, thoracoscopic dissection of the oesophagus with ligation of a tracheo-oesophageal fistula could be performed even in every small infants.
Kellnar
S
S
Kinderchirurgische Klinik im Dr. von Haunerschen Kinderspital der Universität München, Lindwurmstr. 4, D-80337 München, Germany.
Till
H
H
Böhm
R
R
Weiss
M
M
D000818:Animals; D019723:Endoscopes; D004933:Esophageal Atresia / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D020708:Thoracoscopes; D014138:Tracheoesophageal Fistula / Q000601:surgery*