| Theme | Current Topics on The Treatment for Esophageal Cancer | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Thoracoscopic Surgery for Thoracic Esophageal Cancer | |
| Publish Date | 2003/10 | |
| Author | Yoichi Tanaka | Division of Gastroenterological Surgery, Saitama Cancer Center |
| Author | Yoshiyuki Kawashima | Division of Gastroenterological Surgery, Saitama Cancer Center |
| Author | Yutaro Takeshita | Division of Gastroenterological Surgery, Saitama Cancer Center |
| Author | Takashi Migita | Migita Hospital |
| [ Summary ] | Esophagectomy, with 3-field lymph node dissection, has been adopted for thoracic esophageal cancer treatment the past two decades in Japan, facilitating out come improvement for this disease. Over the past few years, thoracoscopic surgery for this disease has been introduced at several institutes. With this new procedure, we hoped for less invasive operations, better postoperative quality of life, and advanced quality of lymph node dissection. We adopted the thoracoscope in addition to conventional thoracotomy, expecting to be able to perform exact dissection of upper mediastinal lymph nodes. We then shortened the thoracotomy wound length, step by step, to reduce operative invasiveness. As a result, the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was somewhat reduced and chest wound pain was remarkably reduced. The outcome for our patients should not be discussed at this time because of the short observation period. However, some reports have noted that survival benefits for patients with thoracoscopic esophagectomy were equal to those from conventional esophagectomy with longer observation periods. Development of endoscopic instruments may lead to thoracoscopic esophagectomy becoming the standard operation for thoracic esophageal cancer in the near future. |
|