The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 28, 126-132, Copyright © 1979 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Circular myotomy as an aid to resection and end-to-end anastomosis of the esophagus
AA Attum, JR Hankins, J Ngangana and JS McLaughlin
Segments ranging from 40 to 70% of the thoracic esophagus were resected in
80 mongrel dogs. End-to-end anastomosis was effected after circular myotomy
either proximal or distal, or both proximal and distal, to the anastomosis.
Among dogs undergoing resection of 60% of the esophagus, distal myotomy
enabled 6 of 8 animals to survive, and combined proximal and distal myotomy
permitted 8 of 10 to survive. Cineesophagography was performed in a
majority of the 50 surviving animals and showed no appreciable delay of
peristalsis at the myotomy sites. When these sites were examined at
postmortem examination up to 13 months after operation, 1 dog showed a
small diverticulum but none showed dilatation or stricture. It is concluded
that circular myotomy holds real promise as a means of extending the
clinical application of esophageal resection with end-to-end anastomosis.
