Clinical application of minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal carcinoma / 中华胃肠外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the feasibility and safety of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) for esophageal carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical data of 298 esophageal carcinoma cases who were treated by MIE in the Fujian Provincial Cancer Hospital from June 2008 to April 2012 were retrospectively reviewed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All the patients underwent MIE successfully except one conversion to open surgery. The mean operative time was (242.3±58.7) min. The postoperative length of hospital stay was (17.4±9.8) d. The number of harvested lymph nodes of total, the mediastinum, the abdomen and the cervix was 27.5±12.2, 10.7±5.7, 13.3±7.8, and 7.7±8.1, respectively. Postoperative complication rate was 29.9%, including pneumonia (n=41), recurrent laryngeal nerve injury (n=25), anastomotic leak (n=9), wound infection (n=7), and others (n=7). After follow up of 2 to 47 months, 3 patients were found to develop anastomotic stricture. There were no recurrence, metastasis, or death.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Minimally invasive esophagectomy is a safe, feasible, effective and minimally invasive surgical technique.</p>