Hi Kelly,
Thanks so much for this info.
We have been exploring options for our daughter who has a second brachial cleft cyst. We have explored open surgical methods with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I also consulted with Dr. Murakami at Nationwide Children’s Hospital about the sclerotherapy option. Dr. Murakami counseled me to have a heart to heart with our surgeon to get a good picture of risk of nerve damage. After our discussion, I came across the article http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/less-invasive-surgery-for-branchial-cleft-fistulasand decided to schedule with Dr. Tunkel to discuss the endoscopic option he discusses in this article. Since then I read information about endoscopic removal (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26466762) and recently realized there is a difference between endoscopic removal and endoscopic cauterization. Dr. Tunkel’s article seems to refer to the cauterization. We plan to see Dr. Tunkel in March, and after I realized his article refers to cauterization rather than removal I am wondering whether or not my daughter would be a candidate for this option.
Anyone out there have experience with this type of surgery and its outcomes? It's what I was thinking my daughter could have when our doctor told us pretty unequivocally that cauterization was a bad idea and he wouldn't do it, let alone recommend it. Feedback, parents?
