RESUMO
Background: Esophageal cancer is a common disease at Digestive Surgery Department of Binh Dan hospital. Surgical treatment is still a main procedure. Objectives: Study on a less invasive surgical technique in esophagectomy with supported thoracoscopy to provide a new esophageal cancer treatment. Subjects and method: Application on a new technique via thoracoscopy to esophagectomy totally in 6 patients (1 female, 5 males), aged 60 years on average, treated in Digestive Surgery Department of Binh Dan hospital from March 2006 to June 2006. Results: The average surgical time was 260 minutes. There was no event during operation. Postoperative complications included: 1 patient had to stitch abdominal wall after operative 7 days, 3 patients with pneumonia after successful operation, 2 patients with right pneumothorax, having to put siphonage. There was one case of death without related to operative technique. Conclusion: Esophagectomy is major operation that can be conducted via open surgery or laparoscopic surgery. Although small case studies, researchers found that laparoscopic surgery is a feasible technique, can be performed safely if the surgeons having experience in open surgery and good skills on laparoscopic surgery. However, thoracoscopic esophagectomy can only be considered as a surgical method, without an alternative method to traditional open surgery.