• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.165-170
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• 2005

The repair of esophageal atresia with a long gap continues to pose difficulties for the surgeon. There is a general agreement that the child's own esophagus is the best, however, primary repair is not always possible. Foker JE et al. (1997) developed a technique of esophageal lengthening using external traction sutures. We successfully treated one patient with a 4.5cm gap esophageal atresia (4 vertebral spaces) using the external traction suture technique.