A refractory cervical anastomotic fistula with sinus formation will seriously impede a patient's return to normal life. It is necessary to find ways to shorten the recovery time for such patients. We used a multilayered, pursestring inverted suture-embedding method for 7 patients, 6 of whom recovered; 1 patient with severe anastomotic stricture and failed. A multilayered, pursestring inverted suture-embedding method can be used to treat persistent neck anastomotic fistula with sinus formation, but it is not suitable for patients who still have a fistula to the mediastinum, thoracic cavity, or severely narrowed anastomoses.
Copyright © 2022 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.