Aerodigestive Clinic: Multidisciplinary Follow Up for Oesophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula Patients.

AIMS: Oesophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula (OA/TOF) is a neonatal congenital condition usually repaired within the first days of life. Children with OA/TOF frequently experience long-term aerodigestive tract difficulties, requiring ongoing multidisciplinary care from a variety of different specialties and allied health services. Our aim was to determine the benefit of a coordinated multidisciplinary Aerodigestive follow up clinic for patients with OA/TOF.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients who underwent OA/TOF repair at Starship Hospital between 2008 and 2022. Follow up data was collected from Paediatric Surgery, Paediatric Otorhinolaryngology (ORL), Gastroenterology, Respiratory, Dietetics and Speech Language Therapy (SLT), and was categorised according to clinics, investigations and operative visits.

RESULTS

Ninety three patients were identified as having OA/TOF repairs during the study timeframe, and 79 were included in the analysis. The median length of hospital stay from birth to discharge was 27 days. During the first year of life, patients had an average of 5.8 clinic visits (range 0-33), 0.8 diagnostic investigations (range 0-4), and 1.9 operative procedures (range 0-17). The mean age at the end of the follow up period was 6.45 years. 19% of included patients had a rural address, indicating greater difficulty in accessing care due to location.

CONCLUSION

Our results highlight the significant and diverse follow up care that OA/TOF patients require following repair, and the benefit of a multidisciplinary Aerodigestive follow up clinic. A review of data following the establishment of a multidisciplinary clinic at Starship Hospital is planned.