title: European perspective in Thoracic surgery-eso-coloplasty: when and how?
abstract: Colon interposition has been used since the beginning of the 20(th) century as a substitute for esophageal replacement. Colon interposition is mainly chosen as a second line treatment when the stomach cannot be used, when the stomach has to be resected for oncological or technical reasons, or when the stomach is deliberately kept intact for benign diseases in young patients with long-life expectancy. During the surgery the vascularization of the colon must be carefully assessed, as well as the type of the graft (right or left colon), the length of the graft, the surgical approach and the route of the reconstruction. Early complications such as graft necrosis or anastomotic leaks, and late complications such as redundancy depend on the quality of the initial surgery. Despite a complex and time-consuming procedure requiring at least three or four digestive anastomoses, reported long term functional outcomes of colon interposition are good, with an acceptable operative risk. Thus, in very selected indications, colon interposition could be seen as a valuable alternative for esophageal replacement when stomach cannot be considered. This review aims at briefly defining "when" and "how" to perform a coloplasty through demonstrative videos.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France ; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Campus Gasthuisberg KUZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lucile
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gust
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France ; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Campus Gasthuisberg KUZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Moussa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouattara
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France ; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Campus Gasthuisberg KUZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Willy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Coosemans
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France ; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Campus Gasthuisberg KUZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nafteux
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France ; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Campus Gasthuisberg KUZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pascal Alexandre
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Thoracic Surgery, North Hospital, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France ; 2 Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Campus Gasthuisberg KUZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Xavier Benoit
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: D'Journo
keywords: Esophageal surgery; benign esophageal disease; colon interposition; esophageal cancer; esophageal motility dysfunction