Thanks to an incidental finding during respiratory monitoring, gastroenterologists in Boston have developed a novel method of detecting esophageal fistulas that reduces the need for x-ray radiation.
The approach is based on tracking end-tidal carbon dioxide (etCO2) during esophagoscopy with carbon dioxide insufflation. According to a new study, a rise in etCO2 is equivalent to fluoroscopy at detecting tracheoesophageal fistulas (TEFs), leading the group to use this new method as a first-line