Treatment of tracheoesophageal and tracheopharyngeal fistulas after laryngectomy

Tracheoesophageal (TEF) and tracheopharyngeal fistulas (TPF) after laryngectomy can mainly be divided into five types: "high TEF with leakage through the voice prosthesis (VP)" (Type Ia), "high TEF with leakage around the VP" (Type Ib), "enlarged high TEF" (Type II), "deep TEF" (Type III), "TPF" (Type IV) and "TPF associated with pharynx stenosis" (Type V). Leakage of TEF in prosthetic voice restoration usually responds well to conservative measures. If these measures fail, as well as in all cases of TPF, surgical intervention is necessary for transtracheostomal or transcervical closure with multi-layer sutures of the esophagus and trachea. In persisting TEF/TPF after unsuccessful surgical attempts revision surgery remains challenging. Tracheostoma transposition for dissociation of the cranial end of the trachea and the hypopharynx and esophagus is essential for effective closure. In rare cases of TPF combined with pharyngoesophageal stricture formation a resection and immediate reconstruction of the stenotic pharyngoesophageal segment with a tube-shaped fasciocutaneous radial forearm flap must be considered.