Robotic Versus Thoracoscopy Versus Thoracotomy Repair for Congenital Esophageal Atresia

Plain-language summary

Thoracotomy repair has long been considered the gold standard for the repair of esophageal atresia but is associated with potential musculoskeletal complications which may result in long term morbidity for the patient. thoracoscopy repair offers better visualization of the posterior mediastinal structures, while limiting the surgical trauma. However, studies have shown that the incidence of anastomotic leakage and anastomotic stricture in thoracoscopic repair is not significantly lower than thoracostomy repair. Robotic repair had shorter anastomotic time, lower incidence of anastomotic leakage and stricture, and lower unplanned readmission rate than the thoracotomy repair. However, there were no randomized controlled trials to verify the effectiveness of three procedures. The objection was to compare the difference between robotic repair and thoracoscopic repair, and thoracotomy repair in intraoperative parameters and postoperative complications in EA neonates.

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