Treatment of intrathoracic anastomotic leak by nose fistula tube drainage after esophagectomy for cancer

Esophageal anastomotic leak remains a lethal complication after esophagectomy for cancer. The aim of the present study is to describe an effective new management, nose fistula tube drainage (NFTD), to treat postoperative intrathoracic leaks. From July 2003 to August 2009, 41 of 4132 patients (0.99%) requiring transthoracic esophagectomy for esophageal and cardiac carcinoma had developed an intrathoracic esophageal anastomotic leak in our hospital as well as another three patients with similar conditions from other hospitals, excluding three patients with gastric necrosis (two) and tracheo‐esophageal fistula (one); 23 patients were treated by NFTD, and the remaining 18 patients were treated by conventional chest tube drainage (CCTD). Clinical records of these patients were reviewed and analyzed, including the healing of the leak, mortality, and morbidity. In the NFTD group, 4 patients (17.4%) died, 1 patient (4.3%) required reoperation, and 18 patients (78.3%) healed. However, in the CCTD group, 3 patients (16.7%) died, 1 patient (5.5%) required reoperation, and 14 patients (77.8%) healed. As compared with the CCTD group, patients of the NFTD group had a shorter intensive care course (11.95 vs 33.62 days, P= 0.01) and hospital stay (39.74 vs 77.54 days, P= 0.02). Although this novel NFTD management did not significantly decrease mortality when compared with CCTD, it could gain more effective drainage than CCTD and eventually shorten hospital stay.