Riga East hospital surgeons build new esophagus from patient's own stomach tissue
Surgeons at Riga East Clinical University Hospital created a new esophagus for a patient from his own stomach tissue in a minimally invasive operation lasting about seven hours. The man can now eat normally again.
Doctors at Riga East Clinical University Hospital in Latvia have performed a complex reconstructive operation in which a man who had suffered for years from chronic inflammation of the esophagus received a new esophagus made from his own stomach tissue. The surgery lasted about seven hours, and afterwards the patient regained the ability to take in food normally and returned to his daily life.
Medical history
Prolonged inflammation had gradually narrowed the patient's esophagus. This made eating and drinking difficult and also caused repeated lung infections, because food and saliva entered the airways. Within one year, the man was hospitalized with pneumonia five times.
Doctors first tried to help with procedures to widen the esophagus, carrying them out 15 times in less than a year. Even so, the patient could take in only a small amount of liquid. Later, a special opening was made in his abdomen so that nutrition could be delivered directly into the stomach.
The operation
After assessing the situation, specialists decided on a reconstructive operation. Surgeons removed the irreversibly damaged part of the esophagus and built a new one from the patient's stomach tissue. The operation was carried out by surgeon Aleksejs Kaminskis and Igors Ivanovs, head of the hospital's General and Emergency Surgery Clinic.
Long-term inflammation had left the tissue dense and inelastic, which made the procedure especially difficult. Nevertheless, the surgeons performed it using a minimally invasive method with small incisions. This approach reduces the risk of complications and speeds up recovery.
Recovery
On the second day after surgery the patient began taking liquids, and over the following days he gradually resumed eating. He was discharged on the eighth day and can now eat normally.
Doctors note that the patient's own determination also played a major role: while preparing for the operation, he quit smoking and improved his diet and physical condition. After recovering, the man said he was willing to share his experience to encourage others who need similar treatment.
