Surgeons from the Greater Poland Cancer Center will perform an innovative reconstruction of the upper gastrointestinal tract. To restore the esophagus, the doctors plan to use a free skin-muscle flap from the patient’s thigh.
The procedure at the Department of Head, Neck Surgery and Laryngological Oncology of the Medical University is scheduled for today (10.05). Polish doctors from Italy will help in the operation – Dr Raul Pellini and Dr Guiseppe Mercante are employees of the Roman Instituto Nazionale Di Tumori Regina Elena, who came to Poland at the invitation of Prof. Wojciech Golusiński – head of the Department of Head, Neck Surgery and Laryngological Oncology of the Medical University.
The operation will involve the use of a free skin and muscle flap with microvascular anastomosis to reconstruct the missing part of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The patient who is to undergo the procedure had her larynx and cervical esophagus removed two months ago due to cancer. He is currently breathing through the tracheostomy in his neck, unable to speak, and eating bypassing his natural route (mouth, throat, esophagus). The food is fed directly into the esophagus, which is located on the neck, near the collarbone. Reconstruction of the upper gastrointestinal tract, the lower pharynx and the cervical part of the esophagus gives a great chance for a radical improvement in the patient’s health and an increase in the quality of her life.
Tekst: Magdalena Kowalska