Minimally invasive total pharyng-laryngo-esophagectomy and reconstruction with gastric tube: report of three cases.

ABSTRACT

Total pharyngo-laryngo-esophagectomy (TPLE) is indicated for either cervical esophageal cancer or synchronous double cancer of the thoracic esophagus and head and neck and this operation is extremely invasive. We adopted minimally invasive surgery for three patients who underwent this operation VATS (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery) esophagectomy was undergone in left semi-prone position and laparoscopic approach was also applied to reconstruction with gastric tube. After pharyngo-laryngectomy and gastric tube pull-up through post-mediastinal route, cervical anastomosis was performed. Free jejunal interposition was added in a case, while microvascular venous anastomosis between short gastric vein and cervical vein in another two cases. All patients recovered well without any postoperative complications. This is the first report, which describes minimally invasive TPLE using both VATS and laparoscopic technique in addition with plastic surgery.