An interventional radiology technique to treat pharyngeal or esophageal perforation associated with mediastinal abscess in children.

PURPOSE: Pharyngeal or esophageal perforation with mediastinal abscess is notably dangerous in children and can be very difficult to treat. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of the transnasal placement of a mediastinal drainage catheter and a nasojejunal feeding tube, with or without gastric decompression, in the treatment of the above perforations in children. METHODS: We placed transnasal mediastinal drainage catheters and nasojejunal feeding tubes in 14 pediatric patients. Patients with esophageal perforation also underwent the placement of a gastric decompression tube. Four of these patients additionally received chest drainage tubes. RESULTS: The fistula healed after a median of 66 days (range, 5-404 days). Corrosive esophagitis occurred in two patients with pharyngeal perforations. One of these patients underwent surgical treatment 2 months after fistula healing, and the other underwent repeated balloon dilatation procedures for cicatricial restenosis. Four months after the fistula had healed, the patients with esophageal perforations were all free from recurrence. CONCLUSION: The use of interventional radiology to place a transnasal mediastinal drainage catheter, a nasojejunal feeding tube, and a gastric decompression tube is a safe, easy, inexpensive, and efficacious way to treat pharyngeal or esophageal perforation complicated by mediastinal abscess in children. TYPE OF STUDY: Treatment study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV.