Abstract
Esophago-respiratory fistulas are abnormal communications between the airways and the esophagus causing a spillover of saliva or gastric fluid into the lungs. More than 50 % are located in the trachea, followed by the stem bronchi (40 %), and a few connect directly to the parenchyma. The etiology is multifactorial. Pediatricians encounter congenital abnormalities that require immediate surgical corrections in the early days of life. It is estimated that 0.04 % of babies are born with such a defect. Most fistulas are acquired. Pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, and thoracic surgeons encounter such a clinical condition when they treat cancer patients. In the vast majority (77 %), the underlying disease is an advanced esophageal cancer. A quarter of all patients with esophageal cancer have abnormalities between the esophagus and the trachea, half of those develop a visible communication.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggested Reading
Colt HG, Meric B, Dumon JF. Double stents for carcinoma of the esophagus invading the tracheo-bronchial tree. Gastrointest Endosc 1992;38:485–489.
Deviere J, Quarre JP, Love J, Cremer M. Self-expandable stent and injection of tissue adhesive for malignant bronchoesophageal fistula. Gastrointest Endosc 1994;40:508–510
Albes JM, Schafers HJ, Gebel M, et al. Tracheal stenting for malignant tracheoesophageal fistula. Ann Thorac Surg 1994; 57:1263–1266
Freitag L, Tekolf E, Steveling H, et al. Management of malignant esophagotracheal fistulas with airway stenting and double stenting. Chest 1996;110:1155–1160.
Raijman I, Siddique I, Ajani J, et al. Palliation of malignant dysphagia and fistulae with coated expandable metal stents: experience with 101 patients. Gastrointest Endosc 1998;48:172–179.
Inada T, Umemoto M, Ohshima T, Sawada O, Nakamura Y. Anesthesia for insertion of a Dumon stent in a patient with a large tracheo-esophageal fistula. Can J Anaesth 1999;46:372–375.
Adler DG, Baron TH, Geels W, et al. Placement of PEG tubes through previously placed selfexpanding esophageal metal stents. Gastrointest Endosc 2001;54:237–241.
van den Bongard HJ, Boot H, Baas P, et al. The role of parallel stent insertion in patients with esophagorespiratory fistulas. Gastrointest Endosc 2002;55:110–115.
Yamamoto R, Tada H, Kishi A, Tojo T, Asada H. Double stent for malignant combined esophago-airway lesions. Jpn J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;50:1–5
Reed MF, Mathisen DJ. Tracheoesophageal fistula. Chest Surg Clin N Am 2003;13:271–289.
Shin JH, Song HY, Ko GY, et al. Esophagorespiratory fistula: longterm results of palliative treatment with covered expandable metallic stents in 61 patients. Radiology 2004;232: 252–259.
Ross WA, Alkassab F, Lynch PM, et al. Evolving role of selfexpanding metal stents in the treatment of malignant dysphagia and fistulas. Gastrointest Endosc 2007;65:70–76.
Murthy S, Gonzalez-Stawinski GV, Rozas MS, et al. Palliation of malignant aerodigestive fistulae with self-expanding metallic stents. Dis Esophagus 2007;20:386–389.
Seto Y, Yamada K, Fukuda T, Hosoi N, Takebayashi R, Chin K, et al. Esophageal bypass using a gastric tube and a cardiostomy for malignant esophagorespiratory fistula. Am J Surg 2007;193:792–793.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Freitag, L. (2013). Treatment of Airway-Esophageal Fistulas. In: Ernst, A., Herth, F. (eds) Principles and Practice of Interventional Pulmonology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4292-9_41
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4292-9_41
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4291-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4292-9
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)