Children who have symptoms from vascular rings and slings need surgery. During surgery, doctors cut the rings and slings so they don’t press on the trachea or esophagus.
Usually this surgery is done through a small incision in the chest. It is not a very invasive surgery.
Your child may need medicine to help with their symptoms until surgery can be done.
If your child has vascular rings and slings but doesn’t have symptoms, your doctor will want to check your child on a regular basis to see whether any symptoms start to develop.
New Treatments for Vascular Rings and Slings
Here at Seattle Children’s, our heart team works closely with the general pediatric surgeons to treat vascular rings and slings as noninvasively as possible. Recently we have developed a team that can treat some cases of vascular rings and slings laparoscopically using a small camera and microsurgical tools inserted into the chest through tiny holes. This greatly reduces the recovery time needed for this surgery.