Background The optimal technique for cervical esophagogastric anastomosis in esophagectomy has not yet been established. Using circular stapled (CS) technique effectively reduces the incidence of anastomotic leakage and shortens the operating time; however, anastomotic stricture has been reported to be more common. The present study was performed to compare the clinical outcomes of the recently developed totally mechanical Collard (TMC) and CS anastomosis. Methods We retrospectively reviewed consecutive esophageal cancer cases who are undergoing transthoracic extended esophagectomy with gastric conduit reconstruction using cervical CS or TMC anastomosis from December 2013 to December 2016. Propensity score matching and multivariate regression were used to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics. Results Among 313 patients, 93 underwent CS anastomosis and 220 underwent TMC anastomosis. Stricture formation occurred in 59 patients (18.8%), significantly more often with the CS than TMC anastomosis (30.1% vs. 14.1%, p = 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the refractory stricture rate (9.7% vs. 5.0%, p = 0.134) or the anastomotic leakage rate (11.8% vs. 10.9%, p = 0.845) between the two groups. The propensity score matching cohort study including 86 pairs of patients confirmed a significantly lower stricture formation rate with the TMC than CS technique (27.9% vs. 14.0%, p = 0.038). In the multivariable analysis, anastomotic leakage, the CS technique, and a body mass index of C25 mg/m 2 were independently associated with a risk of stricture formation. Conclusion TMC technique contributed to a reduced rate of stricture formation compared with CS technique in cervical esophagogastric anastomosis.
Background In this matched-cohort study, we investigated the short-term outcome of robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE) compared with conventional minimally invasive thoracoscopic esophagectomy (MIE) in esophageal cancer patients. Methods One hundred eighty-nine patients with thoracic esophageal cancer scheduled to undergo thoracic esophagectomy between 2020 and 2021 were assigned to either RAMIE or MIE. Then, we retrospectively evaluated the postoperative surgical complications between two groups in a propensity-matched analyzation. Results Based on the propensity-matched score, 50 patients who underwent RAMIE or MIE were selected. Thoracic surgery time in RAMIE/MIE group were 233.1/173.3 min (p \ 0.01), respectively. No significant intergroup differences were observed regarding incisional anastomotic leakage (RAMIE group 4.0% vs. MIE group 6.0%) and pneumonia (RAMIE group 8.0% vs. MIE group 12.0%; p = 0.68). The respective incidences of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis were 34.0 and 8.0% in the MIE and RAMIE groups, respectively (p \ 0.01). In the matched cohort, no differences were observed between the groups in the success accomplishment of the clinical management pathway (RAMIE group 94.0% vs. MIE group 88.0%). Conclusions Although patients who underwent RAMIE had longer operation times, the incidence of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis was lower than with MIE. Further study in a prospective multi-institutional setting are required to confirm the superiority of RAMIE compared with MIE.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.