title: Surgical treatment of Zenker's diverticulum.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Different surgical techniques have been indicated for the management of Zenker's diverticulum (ZD), including diverticulectomy, diverticulopexy, and diverticular inversion, with or without myotomy, and myotomy alone. More recently, minimally invasive techniques (such as the transoral endoscopic approach) have become increasingly reliable for this disorder. We therefore conducted this systematic review in order to gain a profound understanding of the current trend and evidence in surgical management of ZD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medline and PubMed were searched to identify studies on surgical intervention of ZD published in English between January 1990 and March 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 6,915 patients from 93 studies evaluating the effect of the surgical intervention for ZD. No randomized controlled trials comparing one technique with another were identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diverticulectomy with myotomy has become the mainstream treatment option for ZD. In certain selected patients, endoscopic diverticulotomy may offer some advantages over open surgery, such as less trauma and a lower complication rate. It is important to individualize optimal therapy for each patient. More randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up results are required to draw a valid conclusion on the best surgical intervention modality for ZD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Yong-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Long-Qi
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D049631:Esophageal Sphincter, Upper / Q000601:surgery*; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D054020:Lasers, Gas / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000601:surgery*; D017792:Surgical Stapling; D016672:Zenker Diverticulum / Q000601:surgery*