[Diverticulectomy and cricopharyngeal myotomy for the treatment of Zenker's diverticulum. a presentation of 33 cases]

Abstract

Introduction: The classic treatment of Zenker's diverticulum (ZD) has been cricopharyngeal myotomy (CPM), with the need or not to resect it being argued (diverticulectomy versus diverticulopexy). However, the advance of endoscopic techniques requires new treatment strategies to be established. We analyse the complications and clinical results of our series with cricopharyngeal myotomy and diverticulectomy in patients with ZD.

Method: A retrospective, observational and descriptive study was conducted on 33 patients who, between January 1998 and December 2010, had a diverticulectomy and CPM performed in the university hospitals Virgen del Rocío in Seville and Carlos Haya in Malaga. Demographic and operative variables that might be associated with morbidity were analyzed.

Results: Seventeen patients were treated in the Carlos Haya Hospital, Málaga and sixteen in the Virgen del Rocío Hospital, Seville. Although there were no deaths, the morbidity rate of the series was 27% (9 cases), all associated with an oesophageal-cutaneous fistula. None of the variables studied were significantly associated with the appearance of morbidity. None of the patients had a clinical or radiological recurrence of ZD after a mean follow up of 44 months (range, 6 -192).

Conclusions: Diverticulectomy combined with CPM is a good technique for the treatment of ZD, with excellent clinical and functional results in the medium to long term, despite the high morbidity in the form of an oesophageal-cutaneous fistula.