| Our purpose in creating this EA/TEF website is to provide information to the families of these babies as well as to health care providers who would like to review their treatment. Our extensive experience with the treatment of these infants has led to important information about the available options. We believe the advantages and disadvantages of the various treatments can be understood and will be useful in making decisions. We have also found that the parents and primary care providers are the best and most effective advocates for these children.
The acknowledged advantages of using the child's own esophagus and our success with true primary esophageal repairs for even the longest gaps, are the reason for presenting this option. We have observed that the primary repair option is not always presented to parents and for the more difficult cases, only less satisfactory esophageal substitutes may be offered.
Our overall goal is quite simple. The child should be able to eat normally as they wish. There should be no need for a stomach (gastric or g-) tube for supplemental feedings or for medications.
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