The Foker Technique (FT) and Kimura Advancement (KA) for the Treatment of Children with Long-Gap Esophageal Atresia (LGEA): Lessons Learned at Two European Centers

Abstract

FT of both pouches (group A) resulted in primary repairs of all six LGEA patients. The combination of KA and FT (group B) resulted in an equivalent rate of primary repairs, but with an increased number of thoracotomies and rate of complications compared with group A. CSFT (group C) resulted in a high failure rate. More data are needed (we propose a multicenter registry) to elucidate the safety and efficacy of each elongation technique and to establish an algorithm with clearer inclusion and exclusion criteria.