Survival outcomes of trachea esophageal fistula in infant

ABSTRACT

Background: Tracheo-esophageal fistula (TEF) is a rare congenital abnormality often associated with several other anomalies including renal, vertebral column, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular defects. This study was carried out to evaluate the outcome of trachea esophageal fistula among patients who underwent various surgeries for the anastomosis of trachea esophageal fistula.Methods: This study was conducted as a record based cross sectional study among 88 patients who were diagnosed and treated for trachea-esophageal fistula in tertiary care hospital between 2015 and 2018. Data regarding the type of anomaly, presence of associated anomalies, type of surgery and outcomes were documented. Findings of echocardiography and ultrasonography were also documented. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. Chi square test was used to evaluate the outcome of the surgical procedures for management of TEF.Results: Majority of the participants in our study belong to <1 month of age and were males (56.8%). Type 3 tracheo esophageal fistula (80.7%) was the most common type. Associated cardiovascular anomalies were present in 50% of the participants. Thoracotomy with TEF repair was most preferred surgery (76%). Present study demonstrated that surgical techniques improve the physical and physiological outcome of the patients (p <0.05).Conclusions: Trachea esophageal fistula needs to be corrected with surgical procedure. Modern techniques like thorocoscopic anastomosis, thorocosopic techniques to achieve an anastomosis can also be explored. Future studies may be directed in detecting congenital anomalies during the pre-natal period with the help of genetic techniques.