Tzarnas Chris D, Wittenborn William S, Whitlark Joseph D, Ayers William H
Department of Surgery, Mercy Catholic Medical Center, 1501 Lansdowne Avenue, Suite 206, Darby, PA 19023-1333, USA.
J Reconstr Microsurg. 2002 May;18(4):261-2. doi: 10.1055/s-2002-30180.
Esophageal reconstruction has been achieved with a variety of innovative surgical techniques, including colonic interposition, gastric pull-up, pedicled, and free jejunal grafts. The authors describe an unusual case of complete thoracic esophageal reconstruction, necessitating an entirely free microvascular colon interposition as a salvage procedure to reconstitute the alimentary tract from the neck to the abdomen. To their knowledge, this specific method of reconstruction of the esophagus has not been previously reported.