Oesophagocutaneous fistula - a rare complication of thyroidectomy for benign goitre

A 26 year old female resident of Western Maharashtra (India) presented with a salivary fistula on the anterior aspect of the neck. She had undergone a left hemithyroidectomy for left lobe goitre at a private hospital 4 weeks back. She had a history of goitre for six months. There was no history of hoarseness of voice, dysphagia or dyspnoea. Operative notes did not mention about intra operative oesophageal injury. On the fifth postoperative day the entire wound dehisced and the patient developed a large salivary fistula. In the same institute the salivary fistula was initially managed conservatively. Nasogastric intubation was tried but failed even under fluoroscopic guidance. A feeding jejunostomy was done. The histopathological report of the goitre was benign.