Colon Interposition for Esophageal Replacement

Abstract

An intact left colic artery, including its collaterals at the splenic flexure, supplies sufficient blood to the proximal ascending colon after central ligation of the middle and right colic artery. Even without mobilization of the left flexure, a sufficient graft length can be obtained. Preliminary complication rates with the use of this technique for colon interposition are in the range of those found for the standard colon interposition technique. These modifications may represent an alternative to established procedures for creating a colon interposition graft.