Initial experience of sleeve lobectomy under complete video-assisted thoracic surgery.

PURPOSE: Review the initial results of a single-center complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) sleeve lobectomy and discuss the key procedure of this operation, in addition to its safety and feasibility. METHODS: Retrospectively analyze the perioperative data of 11 patients who accepted complete VATS sleeve lobectomy between May 2013 and Jun 2017 in Peking University Third Hospital, try to evaluate the safety of this procedure. All the patients were followed up and their oncological recurrence and metastasis were observed, and feasibility of VATS sleeve lobectomy for lung cancer was evaluated. RESULTS: All of the 11 cases underwent complete VATS sleeve lobectomy successfully and there is no conversion to thoracotomy. The mean operative time was 338 min (range from 243 to 511 min), the mean time of bronchial anastomotic was 63 min (range from 40 to 96 min), the mean blood loss was 205 mL (range from 50 to 400 mL), and the mean number of lymph nodes dissected is 22.1. There was no other complication except one patient suffered from high-risk pulmonary embolism, and no anastomotic leakage and stricture was found. The mean hospital stay postoperation was 8.7 days. The time of follow-up was between 2 and 38 months, only one out of the 11 cases died of bone metastasis, and the other 10 survived till now. One of these 10 patients had local recurrence 24 months after operation, and one suffered adenocarcinoma of esophageal-gastric junction at 15 months postoperation. The rest of eight patients all survived to June 2017 and no local recurrence and metastasis was found. The mean survival time was 14.8 months. CONCLUSION: Complete VATS sleeve lobectomy is a safe and feasible procedure, but the advantage of perioperative and long-term survival need prospective randomized controlled large sample trial to be confirmed.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy in the lateral-prone position: Experience of 124 cases in a single center.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive esophagectomy was first introduced as a new technique for esophageal cancer treatment 20 years ago. Performing this procedure in the lateral-prone position is the most appropriate method. Since May 2013, our center has performed 124 esophageal cancer operations using this procedure. Herein, we share our experience. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 124 consecutive patients who had received minimally invasive esophagectomy in the lateral-prone position from May 2013 to June 2017. The procedure, operative variables, postoperative complications, and oncology outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: The surgery was successful in all 124 patients; three cases converted to an abdominal opening procedure during surgery. The mean total lymph node harvest was 19.2: 12.9 in the thoracic cavity and 6.0 in the abdominal cavity. The average total operation duration was 376 minutes and blood loss was 156 mL. No mortality occurred within 30 postoperative days. Forty-three cases of postoperative morbidity occurred in 38 patients (30.6%), including 11 anastomotic leakages (8.9%), 1 chyle leak (0.8%), 12 lateral recurrent nerve palsies (9.7%), 11 pulmonary complications (8.9%), and 8 other complications (6.5%). A learning curve indicated that blood loss, operation duration, and the number of lymph nodes harvested would improve with time. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical and oncological outcomes following minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal cancer were acceptable. There are some advantages to this technique compared to previous reports of opening procedures.