Modified Method of Primary Thoracoscopic Repair of Esophageal Atresia Facilitated by Stay Sutures

In order to facilitate the procedure, we made some modifications to thoracoscopic repair to EA-TEF: 2 stay sutures were added thoracoscopically during thoracoscopic esophagoesophagostomy (TEES) to reduce the tension between the 2 atretic ends, while using the esophageal anastomosis of the back wall interrupted sutures and anterior wall continuous lock stitches in cases of type III EA-TEF. 2 Forty-three consecutive cases with type III EA-TEF treated in our hospital during a period from May 2014 to October 2019 were analyzed. See PDF] The distal tip of the upper pouch was cut off, to form an opening 1.5-2 times the size of the distal end for TEES. There were no significant differences observed between the 2 groups in regard to age and birth weight (1.2 ± .4 d vs. 1.2 ± .4 d, 2.8 ± .4 kg vs. 2.5 ± .5 kg; P > .05).