Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2026
An Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy Designed to Minimize Anastomotic Complications and Optimize Conduit Function
Published on: April 17, 2020
[Intrathoracic thoracoscopic anastomosis in minimally invasive oesophageal resection - technical tips]
T Böttger1, M Müller, S Hermeneit
1Klinik für Viszeral-, Thorax- und Gefässchirurgie, Zentrum für minimalinvasive Chirurgie, Klinikum Bremerhaven Reinkenheide, Germany. boettger@hgh-mail.de
Introduction:
Minimally invasive oesophageal resections are being increasingly propagated. However, a leakage of the cervical anastomosis, occurring in up to 30 % of the cases, remains a severe disadvantage. By means of a case report, a new alternative technique of intrathoracic thoracoscopic anastomosis is described.
Patient And Method:
After the customary laparoscopic abdominal performance of lymph-node dissection, a gastric conduit was performed in a 73-year-old patient with an adenocarcinoma of the gastro-oesophageal junction. After that the oesophagus had been resected thoracoscopically and an intrathoracic side-to-side/functional end-to-end anastomosis between the gastric conduit and oesophagus was performed with linear staplers.
Results:
There were no postoperative complications.
Conclusion:
The intrathoracic thoracoscopic oesophagogastrostomy seems to be an oncologically adequate procedure that has less complications than the other laparoscopic-thoracoscopic techniques described so far. However, further studies are necessary to prove this conclusively.
