Operative Benefits of Artificial Pneumothorax in Thoracoscopic Esophagectomy in the Left Lateral Decubitus Position for Esophageal Cancer

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate operative benefits of artificial pnuemothorax in thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the left lateral decubitus position. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed short-term surgical outcomes including learning curve of 60 consecutive patients who underwent thoracoscopic esophagectomy with artificial pnuemothorax in the left lateral decubitus position between April 2010 and November 2012 in our department. Results: The median operation time and intraoperative blood loss were 443 min and 220 ml, respectively, and these values were 174 min and 95 ml, respectively, in the thoracic phase of surgery. The median number of harvested lymph node was 37. Only 1 patient required conversion to open esophagectomy. The postoperative 30-day mortality rate was 1.7%. The thoracic operation time significantly decreased after an experience of 10 cases and intraoperative blood loss during thoracic phasesignificantly decreased after an experience of 20 cases (p < 0.05), and operation time remained constant for the following cases. The number of harvested lymph nodes did not exhibit significant changes with an increase in the number of case experienced. Conclusions: Artificial pneumothorax provided the shorting of learning curve at the thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the left lateral decubitus position.