Minimally invasive esophagectomy by video-assisted thoracoscopic approach for esophageal carcinoma. A case report

Esophageal carcinoma represents a pathological entity with a bad prognosis even if adequate multimodal treatment is applied. Because of the high operative morbidity and mortality, due especially to respiratory and infectious complications, the tendency nowadays is to mobilize the thoracic esophagus and to perform esophagectomy and mediastinal lymphadenectomy by thoracoscopy instead of thoracotomy. We present the case of a 55-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with a mediothoracic esophageal spinocellular carcinoma, in whom we successfully performed subtotal esophagectomy by cervico-thoraco-abdominal approach, the dissection of the thoracic esophagus being performed entirely by thoracoscopy.