[Thoracoscopic approach for esophageal malignancies]

Current status and problems of thoracoscopic esophagectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection for esophageal cancer are described. In the initial period at introduced this technique, many authors have concluded that postoperative morbidity after this procedure did not reduce compared with conventional technique. However, we clarified that this technique can be reduced the rate of postoperative pneumonia basis of series consisting a large number of experience, and conserve the respiratory function after surgery. Thoracoscopic approach for mediastinum can show the detailed anatomy and contribute to the improvement of safety of esophageal surgery. The establishment of a training system for this technique is important to achieve the standardization of thoracoscopic esophagectomy.