Tracheo-colonic fistula in a patient treated with coloplasty.

Acute oesophageal entities, such as oesophageal rupture or perforation, or anastomotic dehiscence may be seriously life-threatening for patients. They may force the surgeon to carry out, initially, the disconnection of the upper digestive tract and subsequently reconstruct the transit. This is a technically complex process with considerable morbidity. Tracheo-oesophageal fistulae (TOF) are a serious problem not only for patients, who may be in a life-threatening situation, but also for surgeons, as therapeutic resolution is complex, and the percentage of cases in which the fistula recurs is high. Surgical techniques for repairing TOF vary, and the surgical attitude adopted in this case and reported in this paper is exceptional.