P. Emengo1, C. Chen1, H. Nepomuceno1, C. Celebrezze1, J.C. Dunn1 1Stanford University, Pediatric Surgery Department, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Introduction:
There are multiple types of esophageal atresia, but those classified as “long gap” have two segments of esophagus that are positioned too far from each other for 1-step surgical repair. Previous literature has shown recreation of long gap esophageal atresia in animal models to be challenging. Our goal is to recreate the model in rats to test esophageal atresia treatment strategies.
Methods:
We employed two esophageal atresia models. The first involved transection of the esophagus and anastomosis of the proximal portion of the esophagus to the stomach, thereby creating a blind loop of the distal esophagus to enable future intervention. Our second method involved transection of the esophagus and the creation of two blind ends (Figure 1).
Results:
Although upfront more technically challenging, an esophagogastric anastomosis restored esophageal continuity without the need for sustained researcher enteral feeding. Ligation of the esophagus with a gastrostomy feeding tube insertion allowed for the formation of two atretic segments of esophagus. However, the required monitored daily feedings for several hours was more labor intensive than the former procedure. Both models were able to reach post operative day 6.
Conclusion:
We developed two new rat models for the study of esophageal atresia. While both strategies have varying pros and cons, both enable intra-abdominal access to the esophagus on a more reproducible scale than previously described in the literature. This creates the potential to trial future interventions to treat esophageal atresia.