title: A Novel Obturator Device for Management of Dilated Trachea-esophageal Puncture Tract Fistulas.
abstract: Voice rehabilitation in laryngectomized patients by tracheoesophageal puncture is a time tested technique. In some patients the tracheoesophageal puncture gets inordinately dilated leading to leakage around the prosthesis. Most of these fistulas are managed by a variety of conservative treatments like temporary removal of prosthesis, placement of silastic ring over the prosthesis, placement of nasogastric tube and airway protection by a cuffed tracheostomy tube. Intractable fistulas are tackled by surgical closure but are fraught with failures. We hereby suggest a novel temporary obturator that can be can be easily made at a very low cost in any hospital having prosthetic rehabilitation services and obviates the need for a tracheostomy tube, nasogastric tube and repeated hospital visits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pawar
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental & Prosthetics Surgery, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Kanchan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dholam
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sudhir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sourav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sagar Shridhar
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Vaishampayan
keywords: Intractable tracheoesophageal fistula; Medical grade silicone; Obturator; Voice prosthesis