Oesophageal anastomotic leaks are serious complications with high mortality (20–50%)1 especially in the post-operative setting of malignant disease. They occur in 5–30% of cases,1 usually presenting with severe mediastinal sepsis. Revision surgery has been replaced by the use of endoscopic stents, clips, glue and vacuum therapy. The latter is the simplest and least liable to further complication. As an endo sponge was not commercially available, we introduced a self-made bed-side endo sponge, with evident success.
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