Abstract
Tracheoesophageal fistula results in persistent leakage of saliva into the trachea, prevents oral feeding, and predisposes to aspiration pneumonia. Large fistula closure may require a free flap to cover the defect. When the defect involves the tracheal area between the neck and the mediastinum, a tubeless field for optimal exposure can be advantageous. This article reports the use of veno-venous extracorporeal lung support, a known safe and efficient technique to support the patient’s respiratory function, for this purpose. The typical veno-venous extracorporeal lung support setting includes a femoro-jugular bypass. The patient cases reported here had characteristics that precluded the use of the jugular vein, such as neck radiation dermatitis, previous radical neck dissection, and poor accessibility. Therefore a more rarely described femoro-femoral approach was used. The cases of three patients with persistent tracheoesophageal fistula who had free flap surgeries (two bi-paddled radial forearm free flap and one latissimus dorsi muscle free flap) assisted by femoro-femoral veno-venous extracorporeal lung support are reported.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
