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Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is one of the most common congenital anomaly requiring surgical correction in neonatal period. The important goal of airway management is to avoid excessive gastric distension and ensure adequate ventilation prior to surgical ligation of the fistula. If a large fistula is present close to carina, excessive loss of delivered tidal volume may lead to ineffective ventilation. In addition, gastric distension elevates diaphragm and diminishes the lung compliance. If lung compliance is already impaired due to pre-existing lung pathology, situation becomes much more demanding. We report the successful airway management of a patient with large precarinal fistula and bilateral pneumonitis using the novel Microcuff tube. The unique design of microcuff makes it suitable to be used for this purpose. To the best of our knowledge, the use of microcuff ETT for perioperative airway management in case of a large precarinal fistula in a neonate with respiratory pathology has not been reported in the past.

A neonate, who had undergone primary repair of esophageal atresia with tracheo-esophageal fistula, developed right pleural effusion in the postoperative period. It was initially misdiagnosed as an anastomotic leak, but later confirmed to be chylothorax. Conservative treatment failed. Application of biological fibrin glue (sealant) on the mediastinum through a thoracotomy was curative.

We report a newborn with esophageal atresia (EA) in whom right tracheal bronchus (TB) and a tracheal diverticulum were identified intra-operatively. The right TB was further confirmed on MRI scan performed post-operatively. Such a tracheal trifurcation associated with EA has not been reported hitherto from Indian subcontinent.