Comparison of extended esophagectomy through mini-thoracotomy/laparotomy with conventional thoracotomy/laparotomy for esophageal cancer

Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy for Adenocarcinomas of the Gastroesophageal Junction and Distal Esophagus: Notes on Technique

In the last three decades, with the advancement of laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery, minimally invasive approaches for benign and malignant diseases of the esophagus have been developed and more experience is starting to accumulate across the world. Minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) has demonstrated acceptable lymph node retrieval, good postoperative outcomes, and low mortality. In this article, we review our preferred technique of MIE for adenocarcinomas of the gastroesophageal junction and distal esophagus.

Minithoracotomy oesophagectomy for oesophageal carcinoma with aberrant right subclavian artery: a rare case of dysphagia

BACKGROUND

Aberrant R/subclavian artery is a rare congenital anomaly involving aortic arch. Oesophageal carcinoma with associated aberrant R/subclavian artery is very rare and only few cases has been reported in literature. If unrecognized and injured during oesophageal surgery, it can lead to disastrous complications. When associated with oesophageal carcinoma, it can cause diagnostic confusion as the symptoms are similar.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 60 year old previously healthy female presented with intermittent dysphagia, odynophagia and loss of weight of 3 months duration. She was found to have a oesophageal carcinoma with incidentally co-existing aberrant R/subclavian artery.

CONCLUSION

Although rare this entity should be considered as a differential diagnosis in a patient with dysphagia. In addition, pre-operative identification is important to prevent intra operative vascular complications. The diagnosis and treatment of this rare condition is discussed in this article.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy

Minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) has become an established approach for the treatment of esophageal carcinoma. In comparison with open esophagectomy MIE reduces blood loss, respiratory complications, and length of hospital stay. At the University of Pittsburgh, the authors now predominantly perform a laparoscopic-thoracoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy. This article details this technique, discusses the recently published series of more than 1000 esophagectomies performed by the authors during the last 15 years, and reviews the current literature on MIE.

Thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the prone position

BACKGROUND

Minimally invasive esophageal surgery has arisen in an attempt to reduce the significant complications associated with esophagectomy. Despite proposed technical and physiological advantages, the prone position technique has not been widely adopted. This article reviews the current status of prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy.

METHODS

A systematic literature search was performed to identify all published clinical studies related to prone esophagectomy. Medline, EMBASE and Google Scholar were searched using the keywords "prone," "thoracoscopic," and "esophagectomy" to identify articles published between January 1994 and September 2010. A critical review of these studies is given, and where appropriate the technique is compared to the more traditional minimally invasive technique utilising the left lateral decubitus position.

RESULTS

Twelve articles reporting the outcomes following prone thoracoscopic oesophagectomy were tabulated. These studies were all non-randomised single-centre prospective or retrospective studies of which four compared the technique to traditional minimally invasive surgery. Although prone esophagectomy is demonstrated as being both feasible and safe, there is no convincing evidence that it is superior to other forms of esophageal surgery. Most authors comment that the prone position is associated with superior surgical ergonomics and theoretically offers a number of physiological benefits.

CONCLUSION

The ideal approach within minimally invasive esophageal surgery continues to be a subject of debate since no single method has produced outstanding results. Further clinical studies are required to see whether ergonomic advantages of the prone position can be translated into improved patient outcomes.

The "best operation" for esophageal cancer?

There are several controversies in the surgical management of esophageal cancer including the surgical approach, extent of resection, optimal fields of lymph node dissection, and the ideal location of anastomosis. Optimal surgical treatment strategies must include accurate staging and the selection of an appropriate surgical approach. In addition, other considerations include complete resection, lymph node dissection and evaluation of oncologic and functional outcomes. The objective of this article is to review the literature and discuss our surgical approach to esophageal cancer.

Minimally invasive surgery and cancer: controversies part 1

Perhaps there is no more important issue in the care of surgical patients than the appropriate use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for patients with cancer. Important advances in surgical technique have an impact on early perioperative morbidity, length of hospital stay, pain management, and quality of life issues, as clearly proved with MIS. However, for oncology patients, historically, the most important clinical questions have been answered in the context of prospective randomized trials. Important considerations for MIS and cancer have been addressed, such as what are the important immunologic consequences of MIS versus open surgery and what is the role of laparoscopy in the staging of gastrointestinal cancers? This review article discusses many of the key controversies in the minimally invasive treatment of cancer using the pro-con debate format.

Laparoscopic and thoracoscopic esophagectomy

Over the past decade, our technique of MIE has evolved considerably. In the incipient phase of our experience, we used a totally laparoscopic approach similar to that described in the initial reports from DePaula and colleagues and Swanstrom and Hansen. However, it was soon apparent that there were several critical disadvantages to a purely laparoscopic approach. Laparoscopic transhiatal mobilization of the esophagus offers suboptimal visualization of important periesophageal structures, including the inferior pulmonary vein and the left mainstem bronchus. Moreover, decreased visibility hindered hemostatic division of periesophageal vessels and negatively impacted the completeness of the mediastinal lymph node dissection. These problems are further exacerbated in taller patients. In light of these considerations, we soon transitioned to a laparoscopic-thoracoscopic McKeown approach (thoracoscopic mobilization of the intrathoracic esophagus, laparoscopic gastric tube creation, cervical anastomosis). To this date, the great majority of our minimally invasive esophagectomies (>500 cases) have been performed with this 3-field technique. Indeed, the procedure has been the mainstay of our experience in the past 10 years with reduced perioperative morbidity and mortality compared with many other open series. In our experience, perhaps the most significant technical concern with this operation is the cervical dissection. Recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries, perturbations in pharyngeal transit, and swallowing dysfunction even in the absence of recurrent nerve injury are not infrequent. Moreover, as described in open series using a cervical anastomosis, anastomotic stricture and leak have been shown to occur with increased frequency [35]. In short, there is a significant learning curve with the cervical dissection. Out of these concerns emerged our more recent experience with completely thoracoscopic-laparoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy. However, we did first evolve through a transition phase whereby a mini-thoracotomy (hybrid approach) was performed for creation of the intrathoracic anastomosis. We believe that the experience with totally thoracoscopic-laparoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy will ultimately reproduce the low morbidity and mortality we have previously published with our established MIE technique. The omission of a cervical dissection has reduced our recurrent nerve injury rate to zero. From a theoretical standpoint, one would presume that pharyngeal transit problems and oropharyngeal swallowing dysfunction should be reduced as well with a chest anastomosis. It should be emphasized that there is a steep operator learning curve associated with this approach. Indeed, thoracoscopic port placement is critical, as poorly positioned trocars can result in difficulty maneuvering instruments through the rigid chest wall. Additionally, both blood and lung can obscure visualization of the esophagus, which lies at the dependent aspect of the operative field. Prone positioning has been described as an alternative approach that may facilitate operative exposure and address such technical concerns. Low rates of anastomotic leak (3%), low mortality (1.5%), and equivalent stage-specific survival compared with open series have been shown with this thoracoscopic prone approach [36]. In conclusion, our technique of MIE has evolved such that laparoscopic-thoracoscopic Ivor Lewis esophagectomy has become our preferred approach. Although somewhat early in our experience, we are convinced that this operative technique is feasible with reproducible results. Perioperative morbidity and mortality are comparable with our previously established MIE with cervical anastomosis while essentially eliminating recurrent nerve injury, limiting the length of the gastric conduit required, and allowing a more aggressive gastric resection margin. Recent data from other publications also suggests that lymph node yields may be improved, although insufficient data exist at this time to comment on oncologic results or outcomes with this technique.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy: state of the art

Open esophagectomy is associated with significant mortality and morbidity, even in experienced centers. Two of the more frequent complications following esophagectomy are pneumonia and respiratory failure. Single-institution series have suggested that the incidence of these complications may be decreased with minimally invasive esophagectomy, with equivalent survival compared to open esophagectomy. However, this operation is technically challenging. In this review we detail the procedure as performed in our center, and also discuss some recent developments.