Stricture caused by a plastic vascular clip used during an operation of minimally invasive esophagectomy

Abstract

This article describes the case of a 62-year-old female who had had minimally invasive esophagectomy (Ivor-Lewis) for squamous cell carcinoma of the distal third of the esophagus. The anastomotic stenosis was accompanied by solid food dysphagia and the presence of a foreign body in the esophagus. The foreign body was fixed to the esophageal wall and could not be removed endoscopically. The patient was reoperated on through a 8 cm right thoracotomy. The anastomosis was reached via a gastrotomy, and the large-size plastic vascular clip was removed. The clip was primarily used to close the transsected azygos vein, it was then incorporated into the esophageal anastomotic region and subsequently partially protruded into the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. After removal of the clip, backward dilatation of the anastomosis was performed by Savary-Gilliard dilators, with restoration of its proper diameter. © 2011 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.