The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 57, 1557-1558, Copyright © 1994 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Reoperation for complications of the Angelchik antireflux prosthesis
KC Stewart, JD Urschel and RA Hallgren
Department of Surgery, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The Angelchik antireflux prosthesis is associated with complications that
require reoperation in 5% to 15% of patients. To determine the morbidity
and success of reoperation for these complications, we conducted a
retrospective study of 15 patients. Time to reoperation ranged from 3 weeks
to 113 months with a mean of 31 months. Indications for reoperation
included dysphagia (8 patients), recurrent reflux (6 patients), and
prosthesis migration (1 patient). Ten patients underwent prosthesis removal
and fundoplication, 4 had prosthesis removal without fundoplication, and 1
patient had the prosthesis repositioned. Iatrogenic splenic injury occurred
in 2 patients (13%); one splenectomy and one splenic repair were done. Four
patients (27%) required intraoperative blood transfusion. There were no
operative deaths. Removal of the prosthesis without fundoplication resulted
in a significantly higher incidence of recurrent reflux (75%) than
prosthesis removal and fundoplication (10%) (p < 0.04). Although
reoperation for complications of the Angelchik antireflux prosthesis can be
technically difficult, morbidity and mortality are acceptable. An
antireflux procedure should be done at the time of prosthesis removal.