A Single Intercostal Space Thoracoscopic Approach for Minimally Invasive Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy

We present a laparoscopic and single intercostal space thoracoscopic approach (SICS group) for Ivor Lewis minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and provide postoperative analgesia with a continuous multiple intercostal nerve blocking technique. The characters of this technique are evaluated.

From October 2015 to April 2016, 18 consecutive patients with esophageal cancer were treated with Ivor Lewis MIE by a SICS group. Moreover, from July 2014 to September 2015, 48 patients with esophageal cancer received Ivor Lewis MIE by four-port video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) approach. Among those patients, by using propensity-score matching, 18 matched patients who underwent four-port VATS MIE (four-port group) were retrospectively selected for further statistical analysis. Patient demographics, short-term postoperative outcomes were recorded.

None of the patients in the SICS group required conversion to an open procedure. No failure of the intrathoracic esophagogastrostomy occurred. No perioperative mortality or readmission was observed in this series. No patient suffered from anastomotic leak or complained remarkable dysphasia during follow-up. SICS group had a shorter duration of both docking procedure and closure of chest incisions compared with four-port group. The visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores on 24 hours after surgery was significantly lower in SICS group than in four-port group, while the values on 6 hours were comparable. The level of creatine kinase on postoperative day (POD) 1 was significantly lower in SICS group than in four-port group.

Single intercostal space thoracoscopic procedure is safe and technically feasible and can therefore be viewed as an attractive alternative approach for performing Ivor Lewis MIE.