Free jejunum interposition as salvage surgery after cervical esophagus injury

In rare cases when stomach could not be suitable for esophageal replacement, the jejunum should probably be suitable for esophageal reconstruction. However, the widespread prevalence of jejunal interposition is precluded because of its complexity. Here we present a case of a 74-year-old female who underwent free jejunal interposition as salvage surgery. In this case, cervical esophagus was injured during thyroidectomy. Nine months later, replacement of injured part of esophagus with free jejunum was performed. End-to-end and end-to-side anastomosis were used for esophagus-jejunum and vascular-to-vascular anastomosis respectively. This patient was discharged from hospital 15 days postoperatively. No severe postoperative complication happened. Only minor late operation complication (anastomotic stricture) occurred during 13 years of annual follow-up.