Inside a FETO Procedure: Fetoscopic Balloon Tracheal Occlusion with Dr. Beth Rymeski
With Dr. Beth Rymeski · hosted by Dr. Jill Knepprath
Cued at 1:38 · stops at 2:23 · press play
Educational content from recorded physician discussions — not medical advice. Talk to your (or your child's) care team about your situation.
More about congenital diaphragmatic hernia
same diagnosisDive deeper → Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (13 items)Video
Inside a FETO Procedure: Fetoscopic Balloon Tracheal Occlusion with Dr. Beth Rymeski
4 min · Published Jul 2026
Podcast
Fetoscopic Endoluminal Tracheal Occlusion (FETO)
5 min · Published Jul 2021
Video
Tracheomalacia and tracheomegaly in infants and children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia managed with and without fetoscopic endoluminal tracheal occlusion (FETO): a multicentre, retrospective cohort study
59 s · Published Oct 2024
Video
EUPSA - MicroRNAs in amniotic fluid stem cellextracellular vesicles modulate lung development in experimental congenital diaphragmatic hernia - Kasra Khalaj
10 min · Published May 2022
Video
Quick Literature Updates Ep 19
4 min · Published May 2025
Video
Update Course 2021: TOP PUBLICATIONS IN NON - PED SURG JOURNALS
22 min · Published May 2022
Only a few other public items share this expert — go deeper there →
What the experts said
FETO is a percutaneous intervention on the mother using one trocar placed through the abdominal wall into the uterus.
A standard fetoscope with a side channel is used, and the balloon is worked through the side channel.
The tongue is an easy landmark to identify during FETO because it is bumpy in appearance.
Fluid is hooked up to the scope and can be intermittently turned on and off to push tissue away from the scope to allow easier advancement.
If the baby's head is not perfectly in alignment with the scope, twisting and turning is required to navigate through the mouth.
The epiglottis is a key landmark to locate when navigating to the trachea.
Excessive torquing of the membranes should be avoided because the scope goes through the abdominal wall and uterine wall, and excessive turning can cause membrane damage.
The scope should always be advanced until the carina is visualized, which confirms location in the trachea and not the esophagus.
The balloon should not be driven into one side of the trachea or the other; it should inflate in the main trachea.
The scope is backed up as the balloon is inflated so that balloon inflation can be watched.
The balloon contains a little metal ball that can be visualized.
The goal of FETO is to allow fluid to stay in the lungs and allow the lungs to expand and grow.
FETO helps prevent pulmonary hypoplasia, which is a big factor in poor outcomes for CDH babies.
The balloon is filled with around 0.65 to 0.8 mL of water, depending on the size of the trachea.
Sometimes the trocar advances into the mouth during the procedure and needs to be backed out.
Final confirmation includes advancing the scope one more time to verify the balloon is below the vocal cords and in the main trachea.