Are routine post drain removal chest x-rays necessary after oesophagectomy?

Background: Routine chest X-rays (CXR) are often performed following the removal of chest drains placed during oesophagectomy. CXRs are costly and inconvenient for the patient, often being performed out of working hours. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether routine CXR is necessary following drain removal or if CXRs should only be performed when indicated by the clinical status of the patient.Methods: This was a retrospective study of oesophagectomies performed at a single high volume centre. Routine post chest drain removal CXRs were analyzed and compared to baseline post-operative CXRs. The clinical status of the patient before and after chest drain removal was recorded.Results: 188 patients were identified. 111/188 (59%) had a pleural effusion or pneumothorax on their baseline post-operative CXR. Abnormal findings on post drain removal CXR were common with 72/188 (38.3%) patients having a new or worse pleural effusion or pneumothorax. Only, 5.6% (11/188) of these patients actually developed clinical signs after chest drain removal. Of these, only 2.1% (4/188) required chest drain re-insertion. No patients underwent intervention without showing clinical deterioration. No re-intervention was prompted by CXR finding alone.Conclusions: Routine CXR following chest drain removal is unnecessary. It is safe to only perform CXRs on patients who develop clinical signs.

Transhiatal oesophagectomy: a single unit study

Background: Oesophageal cancer is a common gastrointestinal malignancy in our country and transhiatal oesopahgectomy is popular choice of surgery for lower oesophageal cancers. This study aims at identifying the feasibility and effectiveness of this surgery in our setting.Methods: This prospective study was performed in Department of Surgery, SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad, India. It included a total of 10 cases operated during the study period. Various pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative parameters were observed and results tabulated.Results: In our study dysphagia (90%) was the most common presenting complaint and tobacco, either smoked (40%) or chewed (40%) formed a common risk factor. Lower oesophageal growths (80%) were more common than mid oesophageal (20%). The preferred incision was midline (80%) and average duration of surgery was 351min and average blood loss was estimated to be 521 ml. There was one mortality and a R0 resection in 90% of the cases with 10% positive for local lymphnodal malignant spread.Conclusions: Our statistics are not very different to the studies compared, and we believe they will only improve. We propose transhiatal oesophagectomy to be a practical and affective tool in a surgeon’s armamentarium, which certainly can be a formidable treatment modality in sub-carinal oesophageal cancer.

Safety of Minimally Invasive Oesophagectomy without Pyloroplasty.

Open oesophagectomy may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. With the increa-sing experiences in laparoscopic and thoracoscopic techniques, minimal invasive approaches to oesophagectomy are being explored to determine the feasibility, results, and potential advantages. Pyloroplasty is performed during oesophagectomy to avoid delayed gastric emptying and hence reduces the risk of aspiration pneumonia. By contrast, it has been argued that pyloroplasty is unnecessary as gastric outlet obstruction is a rare occurrence following oesophagectomy and that the procedure itself is associated with a number of complications. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the safety of minimally invasive oesophagectomy without pyloroplasty. Methods: Retrospective cohort study was carried out of 90 consecutive surgically fit oesophagogastric cancer patients irrespective to the age and gender having undergone minimally invasive oesophagectomy without pyloroplasty. The outcomes were measured in terms of developing postoperative gastric outlet obstruction or evidence of pyloric stenosis in endoscopy, operative time, intraoperative complications, in hospital and 30 days mortality rate. Results: 8/90 of minimally invasive oesophagectomy without pyloroplasty developed postoperative gastric outlet obstruction with endoscopic evidence of pyloric stenosis (8.9%). 7/8 with postoperative delayed gastric empyting had been managed conservatively with repeated endoscopic dilatation (87.5%) while one out of eight patient necessitated laparoscopic pyloroplasty (12.5%). Only one among 90 necessitated laparoscopic pyloroplasty .The mean operative time was 366 minutes. 11/90 had postoperative leak (12.2%) which was managed conservatively. The postoperative in hospital mortality was 4/90 (4.4%) and the 30 days mortality is 2/90 (2.2%). Conclusion: Routine pyrloroplasty is not advocated as the incidence of post operative complication delayed gastric empting, leak, aspiration pneumonia are comparable with pyroloplasty more over pyloroplasty is associated with increased operative time ,so not doing is a safe and a wise decision.

Tracheal injury during oesophagectomy – incidence, treatment and outcome.

Background and aim: Iatrogenic tracheal injuries are uncommon, potentially lethal and associated with significant morbidity. In this report we analyze the incidence of iatrogenic tracheobronchial injuries sustained during oesophagectomies and the results and outcome of repair using a pedicled intercostal muscle flap. Methods: A retrospective analysis was done on all patients who underwent an oesophagectomy between June 2000 and May 2011. Data was collected from an electronic database and the medical records of patients, maintained at our hospital. Results: One hundred and fourteen patient records were analyzed. There were 85 male and 29 female patients. Their mean age was 47 years (range 16 to 86 years). Forty two (36%) underwent a transhiatal oesophagectomy, 34(31%) Mckeown’s oesophagectomy, 35(31%) Ivor Lewis oesophagectomy and 3(2%) thoracoscopy assisted oesophagectomy. Of the 114 oesophagectomies, 86 (75%) were performed for malignant and 28 (25%) for benign pathologies (benign tumors and corrosive strictures of the esophagus). In our study, four patients sustained injury to the tracheobronchial tree during oesophagectomy. In patients who sustained injury during a transhiatal dissection a right anterolateral thoracotomy was made. All injuries in the thoracic tracheobronchial tree were repaired primarily and reinforced with an intercostal muscle flap. In the patient with injury to the cervical part of the trachea, repair was done primarily and reinforced with cyanoacrylate glue. All patients who sustained injury had malignancy and three patients had received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Two patients sustained injury during transhiatal oesophagectomy and two during a Mckeown’s oesophagectomy. There was one mortality which was due to ventilator associated pneumonia and related complications. The remaining three were alive with no evidence of repair breakdown. Conclusions: Iatrogenic tracheal injuries are uncommon complications but associated with significant morbidity. Preoperative chemoradiotherapy and malignancy are risk factors for iatrogenic tracheal injuries. Reinforcement of the suture line with a muscle flap is an effective technique of repair. Prompt ontable identification and adequate surgical treatment is necessary for a good outcome.

Assessment of preliminary results of esophagectomy non thoracotomy for treatment of esophageal carcinoma

Background: Surgical treatment of esophageal carcinoma is a main operation in term of both technique and anesthesiology. The Orringer technique is one of the treatments. Objectives: 1. To describe clinical and subclinical characteristics of the middle and lower-third esophageal carcinoma. 2. To assess preliminary results of Orringer technique in treating of the middle and lower-third esophageal carcinoma. Subjects and method: A prospective, descriptive, following by time study was conducted in the patients who were diagnosed the middle and lower third esophageal carcinoma and operated by Orringer technique at the Department of Digestive Surgery in Viet Duc Hospital from January/2000 to June/2006. Results: The subclinical symptoms included difficult swallow (98.5%), anorexia and loss weight (98.5%), pain in chest (23.5%), loss of voice (2.9%) and bloody vomiting (5.9%). For clinical symptoms, 54/68 patients (79.4%) had lesions in lower-third esophageal, 14/68 (20.6%) had lesions in the middle-third esophageal. The average length of the lesions was 6.23\xb12.22cm (95% CI=5.69-6.77). The average operation time was 273.38 \xb154.56 minutes (range: 140-420), which is much faster than those in esophagectomy via thoracotomy: Lewis-Santy technique (324 minutes) and Akiyama technique (480 minutes). Both intraoperative and post-operative complications of Orringer technique were less than those of esophagectomy via thoracotomy. Conclusion: In this study, the clinical and subclinical strongest characteristics of the patients with the middle-third esophageal carcinoma appear in the advanced period (III period and IV period (over 70%)). Orringer technique had faster operation time, less complications and lower mortality than those of esophagectomy via thoracotomy.