Minimally invasive esophagectomy: practice of the standard of Chinese lymph node dissection

Objective To explore the application of the standard of Chinese lymph node dissection in minimally invasive esophagectomy. Methods Methods Between April 2014 to September 2015, 63 patients with esophageal carcinoma received minimally invasive esophagectomy by the same group of surgeons. Wedescribed in detail the methods of thoracic esophagus mobilization and lymph node dissection in the peri-esophageal space. We analyzed the surgical effect, postoperative complications and follow-up results. Results The average operation time was(280.48±44.28) mins, the median intraoperative blood loss was 100 ml, the mean number of lymph nodes was 22.25±11.18; the incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection in 28.57%, hoarseness was 17.46%, anastomotic leakage was 12.70%, postoperative 1 year survival rate was 84.1%, 3 year survival rate of 61.1%. Conclusion Mobilization of thoracic esophagus based on peri-esophageal space and dissection lymph nodes guided by the Chinese standard of grouping lymph node would achieve good clinical effects. Key words: Esophagus; Lacuna anatomy; Minimally invasive esophagectomy; Chinese standard