title: Pharyngeal pouch: which technique?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pharyngeal pouches have been recognised as a cause of dysphagia for centuries and have been treated in a variety of ways over that time.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article aimed to analyse the results of surgery by a variety of techniques, as performed by one surgeon.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of a case series was conducted, analysing the variables of patient age, sex, type of surgery, length of hospital stay, leak, recurrence and other complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 121 patients were treated by 135 operations. There were no leaks in the group treated by endoscopic stapling and this group also had a significantly shorter hospital stay. As for recurrence, the lowest rate appeared to be in the group treated by excision of the pouch.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The techniques used by the author all still seem to have a role in the management of pharyngeal pouch, with the endoscopic stapling approach associated with a low rate of complications and short hospital stay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology,Head and Neck Surgery,Royal North Shore Hospital,Sydney,and Discipline of Surgery,University of Sydney,New South Wales,Australia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Veivers
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017792:Surgical Stapling / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016672:Zenker Diverticulum / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Esophagopharyngeal Diverticulum; Zenker's Diverticulum