Our purpose in creating this EA/TEF website is to
provide information to the families of these babies
as well as to health care providers who would like to
review their treatment. Our extensive experience
with the treatment of these infants has led to
important information about the available options.
We believe, the advantages and disadvantages of
the various treatments can be understood and will
be useful to making decisions. We have also found
that the parents and primary care providers are the
best and most effective advocates for these
children.
The acknowledged advantages of using the child's
own esophagus and our success with true primary
esophageal repairs for even the longest gaps, are
the reason for presenting this option. We have
observed that the primary repair option is not
always presented to parents and for the more
difficult cases, only less satisfactory esophageal
substitutes may be offered.
Our overall goal is quite simple. The child should be
able to eat normally as they wish. There should be
no need for a stomach (gastric or g-) tube for
supplemental feedings or for medications.