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Surgery has dramatically improved survival of infants with esophageal atresia. However, early and late complications of these surgeries affect the future life of this population. A probable step toward minimizing such complications is through modifying the technique of surgery. We evaluated two groups of esophageal atresia undergoing surgery with two different techniques including preservation and ligation of the Azygos vein and compared early complications, duration of surgery, and hospital and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay between them. A total number of 24 patients with mean age of 24 to 48 h, who were diagnosed with esophageal atresia, were included in the study. All cases were randomly allocated in two groups: group A (case group) in which patients underwent surgery with preservation of the Azygos vein and group B (control group) in which patients underwent the former surgical method with ligation of the Azygos vein. Incidence of early complications, duration of surgery, and NICU and hospital stay were compared between the two groups. None of the complications occurred in either group. Duration of surgery, NICU stay, and hospital stay were not statistically significant between the groups. Preserving the Azygos vein during esophageal atresia surgery is probably a good modification of the classic technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are different strategies for the treatment of long gap esophageal atresia (LEA), but many aspects of its management is still controversial. The best treatment is conserving the native esophagus through the connection of two esophageal pouches. In this study, we shared our experiences in management of LEA treatment and introduced a new approch for the conservative management of this condition. In our experience, ten patients with long gap esophageal atresia were treated, followed up and managed by our own designed method. In our technique, we lengthened the both upper and lower pouches instead of one pouches. On the one hand, with the effect of saliva pressure, the upper pouch became longer without proximal esophagostomy. On the other hand, the lower pouch was mechanically lengthened by the feeding effect of gavage. These reduced the distance between the two ends of the esophagus and provided the conditions for the primary anastomosis and saving the native esophagus. There were no complication in these ten patients but this procedure needs more investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]