A team of surgeons from the University Clinical Center Tuzla led by Ass. Prof. Tomaž Štupnik, Head of Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Clinical Center Ljubljana performed a complex and challenging procedure of surgical repair of a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF)
The procedure was performed in a younger age female patient who developed eclampsia during pregnancy, and the delivery consequently ended with a cesarian section.
Postoperatively the patient was moved in the Intensive Care Union. Due to critical general condition of the patient and prolonged mechanical ventilation, a tracheostomy tube was indicated and placed. Throughout the late postoperative course a TEF develops, which required surgical repair.
The TEF repair is a complex and challenging procedure whereby high morbidity and mortality are expected, and the attendance of skilled experts both in surgery and anesthesia are highly desirable and needed. During the surgery, Ass. Prof. Tomaž Štupnik proceeded to separate an abnormal communication between the trachea and the esophagus. Anesthesia team from Clinical Center Tuzla were supervised by Prof. Dr. Dušanka Janjević, specialist in anesthesia from Novi Sad. They said that the surgery was uneventful and that the patient in this early postoperative period will be closely monitored.