Paraesophageal hiatal hernias in children.

Hiatal hernia is a rare condition, which may be a cause of important clinical problems either as a mediastinal mass or as a cause of failure of the antireflux mechanism. Nineteen patients treated for paraesophageal hiatal hernias were included in the study. We investigated demographic data, diagnostic studies and symptoms of the patients together with the type of operation and outcome. Respiratory and gastrointestinal complaints were the prominent symptoms in most patients. Plain X-ray, contrast radiological study and esophagoscopy were used in the diagnostic workup. Surgical repair was performed via thoracic, abdominal or thoraco-abdominal approaches. Concomitant antireflux procedures were performed in 13 patients. Hiatal hernias in children may be asymptomatic or may present with a variety of symptoms or dramatic complications. Because of the risk of complications, surgical treatment is necessary shortly after diagnosis. Repair of the hiatus combined with antireflux surgery seems to yield satisfactory results.

Congenital eventration of the diaphragm in children: 25 years' experience in three pediatric surgery centers.

Eventration of the diaphragm is generally defined as an abnormal elevation of all or a portion of an attenuated but otherwise intact diaphragmatic leaf. Previous studies have indicated that eventration is a relatively rare condition, which can be symptomatic and requires surgery. We aimed to evaluate our patients with diaphragmatic eventration, and to discuss their characteristics in the light of the relevant literature. We retrospectively analyzed age, sex, incidence, location of the eventration, symptoms, associated anomalies, surgical technique, complications and survival in our patients. Between 1974 and 1999, 33 patients were treated in the Pediatric Surgery Departments of Ege University, SSK Children's Hospital and Behçet Uz Children's Hospital, 18 of them boys and 15 girls. The ages of our patients ranged from three days to 12 years. All of the patients had at least one of the respiratory symptoms such as cough, respiratory distress and fever; 3 newborns were admitted with severe respiratory distress while children belonging to higher age groups had symptoms of acute or recurrent pulmonary infections and failure to thrive. The eventration was right-sided in 22, 11 eventrations were left-sided. Diagnosis was performed with the help of a number of radiological studies such as fluoroscopic investigation, contrast study of the upper gastrointestinal system, direct X-ray graphies of the thorax, CT scan and ultrasonography, as necessary. Surgery was performed via thoracotomy in 20 patients and the 12 other patients underwent laparotomy for plication. One patient underwent thoracoabdominal plication. Two patients died because of cardio-respiratory complications in the early postoperative period and the rest of them survived to annual follow-ups. In conclusion, diaphragmatic eventration is an important condition which can eventually be mortal. Early diagnosis is necessary and plication is the treatment of choice.

Scintigraphy in the detection of gastro-oesophageal reflux in children with caustic oesophageal burns: a comparative study with radiography and 24-h pH monitoring.

BACKGROUND: Caustic injury of the oesophagus not only causes luminal narrowing but is also responsible for longitudinal contraction, resulting in gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR), which leads to failure of conventional therapy. Therefore, the development of GOR should be investigated periodically to direct appropriate management of these patients. PURPOSE: To determine the ability of scintigraphy to detect GOR in children with caustic oesophageal strictures in comparison with barium study and 24-h pH monitoring. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen children with caustic oesophageal injury underwent scintigraphy, an upper GI barium study and 24-h pH monitoring within the same week. Five patients were also investigated post-operatively for the assessment of surgical outcome after antireflux surgery. RESULTS: On the whole, there was good correlation (r = 0.78, P < 0.00 l) between scintigraphy and 24-h oesophageal pH monitoring. Scintigraphy detected all but one (9/10) refluxing patients and also correctly identified all (7/7) non-refluxing patients. Barium studies demonstrated 6 out of 10 refluxing patients. There were no false-positive barium studies in non-refluxing patients. Post-operative studies demonstrated no evidence of GOR in surgically treated patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that, by comparison with barium studies, scintigraphy is useful in the detection of GOR in cases with caustic oesophageal strictures and may be used as a screening modality for those under clinical follow-up.

Management of instrumental perforations of the esophagus occurring during treatment of corrosive strictures.

BACKGROUND: The initial symptoms of esophageal perforations (EP) may be subtle, but the progression is very rapid, and the outcome may be disastrous unless the diagnosis is made early and proper treatment is started immediately. METHODS: Between 1976 and 1996, 1,249 patients with caustic esophageal burns were treated at Ege University. The study group is composed of 52 patients with instrumental ER Perforations occured during dilatation attempts of esophageal strictures. Twelve patients were referred from other institutions after the occurrence of EP. RESULTS: In two patients, emergency surgical repair of the perforation was possible. Seventeen patients with unilateral and two patients with bilateral empyema were treated by pleural drainages. Anterior retrosternal mediastinal drainage was needed in one patient, and 11 patients required posterior mediastinal drainages. Three patients were treated by both anterior and posterior mediastinal drainage. Tracheoesophageal fistulas (TEF) developed in eight patients immediately after a dilatation attempt. Seven of these patients required esophageal replacement with colon to bypass the fistulas, and one patient in this group healed spontaneously. EP healed in 42.5 +/- 49.4 days. Twelve (23%) patients died of mediastinitis and sepsis. CONCLUSION: When EP is diagnosed and treated with these methods, the mortality rate should approach zero.

A critique of systemic steroids in the management of caustic esophageal burns in children.

Five hundred and nineteen NaOH ingestion cases were admitted to our department between 1975 and 1994, and examined via esophagoscopy in the first 48 hours. Two hundred and forty-six patients in this series were diagnosed as severe burns endoscopically. This group of 246 patients were evaluated in a retrospective study to determine whether systemic steroid treatment had any place in preventing stricture formation following severe esophageal burns. Seventy-nine patients in this group were divided into three subgroups and they received methyl prednisolone parenterally in three different regimens. The control group consisted of 167 patients admitted between the years 1986 and 1994 who did not receive any form of steroid treatment. There were no statistically significant differences between the healing rates of the subgroups and the control group (p > 0.01). The authors concluded that systemic steroid treatment has no beneficial effect on esophageal wound healing following caustic esophageal burns.

Management of pneumothorax in children.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of tube thoracostomies inserted at the sixth intercostal space at midaxillary line was evaluated retrospectively in children. METHODS: Ninety-seven children with pneumothorax, treated by tube thoracostomy were taken into the study. There were 67 male and 30 female patients with a mean age of 6.5 years (range 1 days to 15 years) RESULTS: Pneumothorax was located at the right side in 50 (51.5%), and at the left in 38 (39.1%) of the cases. Bilateral pneumothorax was found in 9 additional patients (9.2%). All patients were treated with tube thoracostomy placed in the pleural cavity at the sixth intercostal space at the mid-axillary line. Postoperative course was uneventful and no complication was encountered at any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these data we suggest that all thoracostomy tubes should be inserted on the sixth intercostal space where both air and the accumulating fluid can be reached. The insertion of the thoracostomy tube at the second intercostal space must be avoided since it carries a high risk of subclavian vein injury in small children, and also a secondary tube is frequently required to drain the accompanying intrapleural fluid.

Gastroesophageal reflux: a determinant in the outcome of caustic esophageal burns.

Deep circumferencial burns of the esophagus always result in stricture formation and obstruction of the lumen. The usual treatment of caustic esophageal strictures is long-term esophageal dilatations. A new method of treatment, long-term stenting of the strictured esophagus gave superior results when compared with the classic dilatation therapy (healing rates, 68% v 33%; P < .01). Although success in the stent group was very satisfactory, the 32% failure rate requires explanation. In the years between 1991 and 1993, 53 stent-treated patients were screened for gastroesophageal reflux (GER). All patients were investigated with 24-hour ambulatory distal esophageal pHmetry. In 18 patients reflux index (RI) was found to be below 4. In 14 patients RI was between 4.1 and 19. In the final group of 21 patients RI was over 20 (minimum, 21.8; maximum, 72.8). When these data were compared with the healing rates of the patients, it was found that none of the 21 patients with RI over 20 responded to the described therapy. We conclude that the esophagus, after a serious caustic insult, not only narrows but also shortens thus altering the lower esophageal sphincter function leading to serious GER. Therefore all caustic esophageal burn patients should be screened for GER periodically during the dilatation or stent therapy programs, and GER should be controlled before RI approaches 20.

Treatment of corrosive esophageal strictures by long-term stenting.

From 1975 through 1992, 932 patients with caustic esophageal burns were admitted to the author's institution. Deep circumferential burns were diagnosed esophagoscopically in 241 children within the first 48 hours postburn. Initial treatment consisted of periodic anterograde and/or retrograde dilations of the injured and scarring esophagus (n = 172). In 1989, a long-term stenting technique was introduced, and a total of 69 patients have been treated in this manner. The healing rates of patients treated with traditional therapy were compared with those of patients who had stenting, and a significant difference was noted (33% v 68%; P <.01). Failure among the stented group was attributable to poor patient compliance and to gastroesophageal reflux resulting from shortening of the esophagus during scar formation.

Surgical treatment of achalasia in children: is an added antireflux procedure necessary?

Between 1975 and 1994, nine patients with achalasia were treated surgically at the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ege University Hospital. The mean age was 8.3 years; there were 4 boys and 5 girls; and dysphagia was the leading symptom. There was also significant growth retardation in most of the patients. A modified Heller's myotomy was performed in all cases via a transthoracic approach without an antireflux procedure. In one patient the myotomy resulted in significant gastroesophageal reflux, but this could be controlled medically. This patient also needed esophageal balloon dilatation twice after the operation. Symptoms were relieved dramatically in the rest of the patients after surgery. We conclude that an additional antireflux procedure need only be performed when the esophagomyotomy is done incorrectly (an unnecessarily long incision extended onto the stomach), but is otherwise unnecessary.

Management of tracheoesophageal fistula as a complication of esophageal dilatations in caustic esophageal burns.

The authors report on eight patients with caustic esophageal burns in whom tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) developed during dilatation programs. This study covered a period of 17 years between 1975 and 1992. The age of the patients ranged from 1.5 to 8 years (mean age, 3.4 years). TEF developed after 5 to 43 months after injury (mean, 20.05 months). In each case, after documentation of the fistula by esophagography, esophagoscopy, and/or bronchoscopy, the fistula was blocked by an intraluminal esophageal stent, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube with a large lumen (10-mm diameter maximum). In this period, patients were fed via a jejunostomy tube and by total parenteral nutrition (TPN) if indicated, while the existing pneumonia was being treated. In one patient, fistula closed spontaneously during the stent application program, which ended with a patent esophagus. In two patients primary closure of TEF was attempted. In one of them fistula recurred and in the other it was technically impossible to separate the esophagus from trachea safely because of the very tight adhesions. In five patients a two-stage coloesophagoplasty was performed to bypass the fistulated esophagus. In the first stage, retrosternal pull-through of the colon and coloesophagogastric anastomosis was performed. In the second stage, closure of the distal esophagus and cervical coloesophagostomy was carried out. The patient with the primary closure attempt and one patient with stage 1 coloesophagoplasty died 3 and 4 months, respectively, after the operations. The cause of death was uncontrollable pneumonia in both cases. Follow-up of the four patients showed no complications. Another fistula patient is currently on stent treatment program with pneumonia under control.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Oesophagoplasty in the treatment of caustic oesophageal strictures in children.

A total of 111 children with caustic oesophageal strictures who have subsequently undergone oesophagoplasty were reviewed. Overall 80 patients had a retrosternal colon transplant; a two-stage operation with delayed cervical oesophagocolostomy was the preferred method in 68 of them. Of those having retrosternal surgery two had total necrosis and three had necrosis at the distal end of the transplant. The incidence of cervical anastomotic stenosis was six of 12 in the group undergoing single-stage surgery, compared with seven of 68 in those having the two-stage operation. Ten patients underwent a right thoracic retrohilar colon transplant, seven of whom developed redundancy of the graft. Redundancy was a lesser problem in the retrosternal placement of the transplant. Three patients underwent jejuno-oesophagoplasty which resulted in terminal necrosis in one patient and total necrosis in two. The remaining 18 patients had segmental resection of the intrathoracic oesophageal stenosis followed by end-to-end anastomosis. The overall mortality rate in the series was 3.6 per cent (four of 111).

Pulmonary hydatidosis in children.

In the years 1963-1991 inclusive, 88 patients were operated on with a diagnosis of pulmonary hydatid disease. The cysts were intact in 69 and infected in 19 cases. It was possible to use a surgical technique that preserved the pulmonary parenchyma in 67 patients. In this technique, the cavity after removal of the mother membrane is left open and only the air leaks are sutured. Continuous postoperative drainage of the residual cavity and the ipsilateral hemithorax always resulted in complete inflation of the affected lung. Enucleation of the endocyst and extended resection of the sclerotic pulmonary parenchyma were performed in 15, enucleation and obliteration in three, lobectomy in two and Barrett's method was applicable in one patient. A bronchopleural fistula developed in 11 patients postoperatively and in four of these cases a second thoracotomy was necessary. Postoperative empyema developed in four cases. There were two postoperative deaths in the series. Eighty-six patients were symptom-free in the long-term postoperative follow-up. We conclude that in the surgical management of the disease it should not be necessary to obliterate the residual cavity with extensive suturing which always leads to extra fibrosis with loss of viable pulmonary parenchyma.