Surgical Repair of Zenker's Diverticulum

Abstract

Zenker's diverticulum is a pulsion diverticulum that occurs at a weak site in the posterior wall of the pharyngoesophagus between the inferior constictor of the pharynx and the cricopharygeus muscle, i.e. Killian's triangle. Zenker's diverticulum is rare in Japan. We performed diverticulectomy with cricopharyngeal myotomy for Zenker's diverticulum via the external cervical approach with the patient under general anesthesia. The huge diverticulum was resected with the use of a large-diameter (45Fr) esophageal bougie. Patients with a large diverticulum are at risk for postoperative surgical complications, such as pneumonia and reccurent laryngeal nerve paralysis.