Newborn Undergoes Successful Thoracoscopy At Rambam

For the first time in Israel, a rare and complicated pediatric thoracoscopy has been performed to correct esophageal blockage in a neonate. The minimally invasive procedure took place at Meyer Children's Hospital on Rambam Health Care Campus, whose Pediatric Surgery Department is directed by Dr. Gideon Shoshany.  

One in 3,000 infants is born with this defect, in which a short section of the upper esophagus is blocked off from the lower esophagus and the stomach is directly linked to the lungs and respiratory organs. In such cases, stomach fluids penetrate the neonate's lungs, causing infection that eventually leads to death. The defect is solved surgically by disconnecting the lower esophagus from the trachea and reconnecting it properly.

Most medical centers in the world still correct this defect using thoracotomy (open chest surgery), which is, however, accompanied by much pain and risks fracturing the newborn's tiny ribs and distorting its spine.
 
Thoracoscopy, in contrast, involves making three tiny incisions into the chest cavity, via which instruments designated for pediatric surgery and measuring a mere 3 millimeters in diameter are inserted. The operation takes approximately three hours and is accompanied by significantly less pain and a shorter recuperation.

The infant at Rambam recuperated within four days and was released to its home.