Short-term outcomes of robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy compared with thoracoscopic or transthoracic esophagectomy

Abstract

Background/Aim: There is no study comparing open esophagectomy (OE), video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), and robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE) in a single institution.Patients and Methods: This study included 272 patients who underwent subtotal esophagectomy divided into three groups: OE (n=110), VATS (n=127), and RAMIE (n=35) groups.Moreover, short-term outcomes were compared.Results: Overall complications (CD≥II) were significantly less in the RAMIE than the OE and VATS groups.Recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis (CD≥II) was significantly lower in the RAMIE than the OE group (p=0.026) and tended to be lower than that in the VATS group (p=0.059).The RAMIE group had significantly less atelectasis (CD≥I and II), pleural effusion (CD≥I and II), arrhythmia (CD≥II), and dysphagia (CD≥II), than both the OE and VATS groups.Conclusion: RAMIE reduced overall postoperative complications after esophagectomy compared with both OE and VATS.