Thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the prone position

Area of Science:

• Thoracic Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Procedures
• Surgical Technique

Background:

• Thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the left lateral position has limited adoption due to reliance on assistant technical skill for adequate visualization.
• Previous thoracoscopic esophagectomy approaches faced challenges in maintaining a clear surgical field, hindering standardization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy.
• To describe the surgical technique for prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy as performed at our institution.

Main Methods:

• Performed prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy on 20 patients.
• Focused on assessing the ease of obtaining a satisfactory operative field of view.
• Documented the surgical procedure and patient outcomes.

Main Results:

• Achieved a wide and satisfactory field of view in all 20 patients.
• Observed remarkably favorable postoperative courses across all patients.
• Prone positioning required less surgical assistance for field exposure.

Conclusions:

• Prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy is a promising technique for standardizing minimally invasive esophagectomy.
• The procedure offers advantages in visualization and reduced reliance on assistant expertise.
• Further detailed reports are warranted to establish this technique widely.