Surgical Treatment of Zenker's Diverticulum: Transcutaneous Diverticulectomy Versus Microendoscopic Myotomy of the Cricopharyngeal Muscle with CO 2 Laser

Abstract

In a retrospective study, we analyzed 97 patients who were treated by either transcutaneous diverticulectomy (n = 66) or microendoscopic myotomy of the cricopharyngeal muscle with CO₂ laser (n = 31). Two (6.4%) of 31 patients in the microendoscopic myotomy group had complications, compared with 10 (15%) of 66 patients in the diverticulectomy group. In addition, the complications observed in the microendoscopic myotomy group were less severe than those observed in the trans-cutaneous diverticulectomy group. The average length of hospitalization was shorter in the microendoscopic myotomy group than in the diverticulectomy group (8 days versus 11.4 days). We conclude that microendoscopic CO₂-laser myotomy is a less invasive, more precise, and safer procedure, which results in a shortened period of hospitalization and complete relief of symptoms in the vast majority of cases.