TRACHEAL WORK OF BREATHING IN NEONATES WITH TRACHEOESOPHAGEAL FISTULA BEFORE AND AFTER SURGICAL REPAIR VIA COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS ASSESSMENT

Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), often occurring with esophageal atresia (EA), presents significant respiratory challenges in neonates. Neither the effect of EA/TEF, nor the effect of post-surgical complications such as tracheomalacia, on respiratory effort has been previously quantified. This study calculates the tracheal resistive component of work of breathing (TR-WOB) to quantify breathing effort pre- and post-surgical repair of EA/TEF. The primary objective of this study was to calculate the TR-WOB before and after surgical repair and compare it to normal values.