Surgical treatment of Zenker's diverticulum

Background: Different surgical techniques have been indicated for the management of Zenker's diverticulum (ZD), including diverticulectomy, diverticulopexy, and diverticular inversion, with or without myotomy, and myotomy alone. More recently, minimally invasive techniques (such as the transoral endoscopic approach) have become increasingly reliable for this disorder. We therefore conducted this systematic review in order to gain a profound understanding of the current trend and evidence in surgical management of ZD.

Methods: Medline and PubMed were searched to identify studies on surgical intervention of ZD published in English between January 1990 and March 2011.

Results: We identified 6,915 patients from 93 studies evaluating the effect of the surgical intervention for ZD. No randomized controlled trials comparing one technique with another were identified.

Conclusion: Diverticulectomy with myotomy has become the mainstream treatment option for ZD. In certain selected patients, endoscopic diverticulotomy may offer some advantages over open surgery, such as less trauma and a lower complication rate. It is important to individualize optimal therapy for each patient. More randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up results are required to draw a valid conclusion on the best surgical intervention modality for ZD.