Colonic interposition for benign esophageal disease. Long-term clinical and endoscopic results.

Replacement of the esophagus for benign disease requires familiarity with the long-term results of various esophageal substitutes. In the present study, 60 esophageal reconstructions for benign disease using colonic interposition have been presented. The operations were performed mainly without thoracotomy, using both antiperistaltic and isoperistaltic colonic segments. There were no differences in swallowing ability between patients with antiperistaltic and patients with isoperistaltic interpositions. Regurgitation symptoms, however, seemed to be somewhat more common and more difficult in patients with antiperistaltic colonic transpositions. Endoscopic signs of colitis were common, but they did not correlate with regurgitation symptoms. Bacterial cultures from the transplanted colon mainly revealed the usual mouth organisms. Candida albicans was frequently found in the fungal samples. There were no differences in the results between patients with follow-up periods of more and less than 2 years. The clinical results were good or fair in a great majority of the patients.