SURGICAL OUTCOME IN 87 PATIENTS WITH ZENKERS-DIVERTICULUM

Surgical treatment of Zenker's diverticulum is controversial because m any different procedures exist. We retrospectively reviewed 87 consecu tive patients surgically treated for Zenker's diverticulum at a tertia ry care institution from 1976 through 1993. Pour surgical procedures w ere performed: cricopharyngeal myotomy alone (n = 16), excision (hand- sewn) plus myotomy (n = 51), excision (stapler) plus myotomy (n = 11), and diverticulopexy plus myotomy (n = 9). There were three surgical m ortalities (3.5%) and a complication rate of 24%. Eighty patients (92% ) were available for follow up. Sixty-eight patients (78%) reported ex cellent relief of symptoms, 10 (13%) reported improvement with occasio nal symptoms, and two (3%) described persistent dysphagia. No statisti cal difference in complication rate was found among surgical groups (P = 0.15). Myotomy alone patients had worse outcomes (P = 0.04) compare d with the other surgical groups. Median follow-up was 7.5 months.