Completely Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy Versus Hybrid Esophagectomy for Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junctional Cancer: Clinical and Short-Term Oncological Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery for resectable esophageal and gastroesophageal junctional (GEJ) cancer significantly reduces morbidity when compared with open surgery, as is evident from published landmark trials. Comparison of outcomes between hybrid esophagectomy (HE) and completely minimally invasive esophagectomy (CMIE) remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to ascertain whether CMIE is associated with less postoperative complications compared with HE without oncological compromise. METHODS: All consecutive two-stage HEs and CMIEs performed between 2016 and 2018 were included. All procedures were performed with an intrathoracic anastomosis. Primary clinical outcomes were pulmonary infective and overall complications within 30 days of surgery, while primary oncological outcomes included overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) at both 6 months and to date. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative variables and postoperative clinical parameters. RESULTS: Overall, 98 patients had CMIEs and 49 patients had HEs. There were no baseline differences between the two groups. Thirty-day postoperative pulmonary infection rates were lower in the CMIE group compared with the HE group (12.2% vs. 28.6%; p = 0.014), and 30-day overall postoperative complication rates were also lower following CMIE (35.7% vs. 59.2%; p = 0.007). OS and DFS were similar between the two groups at 6 months (p = 0.201 and p = 0.109, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: CMIE is associated with less pulmonary infective and overall postoperative complications compared with HE for resectable esophageal and GEJ cancer. No intergroup difference was observed regarding short-term survival and cancer recurrence in patients undergoing CMIE and HE. A randomized controlled trial comparing the two operative approaches is required to validate these findings.

Over-the-scope-clip treatment of gastrobronchial fistula following minimally invasive oesophagectomy: a novel approach.

Gastrobronchial fistulae (GBF) following minimally invasive oesophagectomy (MIO) is a rare entity, with an estimated incidence of 0.3-1.5% according to the published literature. It could present with persistent cough (Ohno's sign), chest pain, haemoptysis and recurrent pneumonia. Barium swallow examination remains the most sensitive investigation in 78% of the cases; the main stay of management is surgical and in some cases endoscopic (stent insertion). We report a rare case of a GBF 1 month after two-stage MIO for cancer of the gastro-oesophageal junction, which was successfully treated for the first time with an over-the-scope-clip.

Role of 3D in minimally invasive esophagectomy.

PURPOSE: Two-stage minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) has gained popularity in the surgical treatment of esophageal cancer. MIE's limitation is embedded in the construction of intrathoracic anastomosis. Various anastomotic techniques have been reported; however, the mechanical one remains the most commonly adopted. This pilot study aims to describe an efficient, safe, and reproducible way of performing a hand-sewn intrathoracic esophagogastric anastomosis in conjunction with short-term results using 2D and 3D thoracoscopic approaches. METHODS: A total of n = 13 patients (mean age 67.4) underwent MIE for distal esophageal or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma between January and September 2016. Resection was performed in prone position, and the esophagogastric anastomosis was constructed in an end-to-side manner in two layers with barbed knotless suture. A 2D thoracoscopic approach was used in n = 10 patients (77%) and a 3D approach in n = 3 (23%). RESULTS: n = 8 patients (61.5%) had neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and n = 5 (38.5%) had primary surgery. The mean operating time was 420 min, and the average length of stay was 10 days with no associated mortality. n = 1 (7.7%) developed a radiological leak that did not require an intervention. Thoracoscopic approach with the glasses-based 3D optical system using the angulating-tip 100° camera provided a far superior view for precise lymphadenectomy in combination to an efficient and safe construction of the anastomosis. CONCLUSION: The barbed knotless suturing technique in MIE is an efficient and safe method of constructing the esophagogastric anastomosis with promising short-term outcomes. A 3D thoracoscopic approach appears to be superior in performing the anastomosis to that of a 2D technique.

Concomitant jejunal sarcomatoid carcinoma and gastric GIST in patient with polymyalgia rheumatica: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Sarcomatoid carcinoma (SCA) of the small bowel is an extremely rare tumor with only 21 cases reported in literature and GISTs are relatively rare gastrointestinal neoplasms. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of an 85 year-old female admitted with intestinal obstruction in June 2010. She suffered from polymyalgia rheumatica and was under surveillance for a presumed gastric GIST. A laparotomy was performed with resection of the jejunal obstruction and complete excision of the gastric mass. Histology confirmed a gastric GIST and sarcomatoid carcinoma of the small bowel. The patient was discharged 21 days after the operation and died on the 88th post-operative day. DISCUSSION: Synchronous GISTs and other malignancies have been reported over the last years with increasing frequency. Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the small bowel is an aggressive neoplasm with poor survival rates and surgery is the cornerstones of treatment. Given its unpredictable clinical behaviour and concomitant association with other malignancies, GISTs require adequate surgical resection with careful, long-term follow-up. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of concomitant gastric GIST with Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the small bowel, and the first report of sarcomatoid small bowel carcinoma in association with polymyalgia rheumatica.

Real-time outcome monitoring following oesophagectomy using cumulative sum techniques.

AIM: To examine the feasibility of prospective, real-time outcome monitoring in a United Kingdom oesophago-gastric cancer surgery unit. METHODS: The first 100 hybrid (laparoscopic abdominal phase, open thoracic phase) Ivor-Lewis oesophagectomies performed by a United Kingdom oesophago-gastric cancer surgery unit were assessed retrospectively using cumulative sum (CUSUM) techniques. The monitored outcome was 30-d post-operative mortality, with the accepted mortality risk defined as 5%. A variable life adjusted display (VLAD) was constructed by plotting a graph of cumulative mortality minus cumulative mortality risk on the y axis vs sequential case number on the x axis. This was modified to a zeroed VLAD by preventing the plot from crossing the y = 0 axis - essentially creating two plots, one examining trends where cumulative mortality was higher than mortality risk (i.e., worse than expected outcomes) where y > 0, and vice versa. Alert lines were set at y = ± 2. At any point where a plot breaches an alert line, it is felt that the 30-d post-operative mortality rate has deviated significantly from that expected and an internal review should be performed. RESULTS: One hundred cases were assessed, with a mean age of 66.4 years, mean T stage of 2.1, and mean N stage of 0.48. Three cases were commenced using a laparoscopic technique and converted to open surgery due to technical factors. Median length of inpatient stay was 15 d. The crude 30 d mortality was 5% and the incidence of clinically significant anastomotic leak was 6%. The VLAD demonstrated a plot of cumulative mortality minus cumulative mortality risk (i.e., 5% per case) which remained in the range -1.4 to +0.5 excess mortalities. With the alert set at two greater or fewer than predicted mortalities, this method does not approach the point of triggering internal review. It is however arguable that a run of performance that is better than expected, causing the plot to be well below y = 0, would mask a subsequent run of poor performance by requiring a rise of greater than two excess mortalities to trigger the alert line. The zeroed VLAD removes this problem by preventing the plot that is examining above expected mortality from passing below y = 0, and vice versa. In this study period, no audit triggers were reached. It is therefore possible to independently assess runs of good, or poor performance and so target internal audit to the appropriate series of cases. It is important to note this technique allows targeted internal review, in response to both above and below average outcomes. This study has demonstrated the feasibility of prospective outcome monitoring using the above techniques, actual real-time implementation has the potential to pick up and reinforce good practices when performance is better than predicted, and provide an early warning system for when performance falls below that predicted. Further development is possible, including more patient specific risk adjustment using the oesophago-gastric surgery physiological and operative severity score for the enumeration of mortality and morbidity score. CONCLUSION: CUSUM techniques provide a potential method of prospective, real-time outcome monitoring in oesophageal cancer surgery.