How to perform minimally invasive surgery for esophageal tumor

Esophageal tumor is a common tumor in many countries and regions in the modern world. The best treatment for esophageal tumor so far is resection. With the continuous development of technology in today's society, many instruments for esophageal tumor surgery have emerged, such as thoracoscopes and laparoscopes. Moreover, minimally invasive technology for esophageal tumors has emerged, and this technology is increasingly praised by many doctors. So today I will look at some issues about minimally invasive surgery for esophageal tumors.

1. About Minimally Invasive Esophageal Cancer Surgery

Peracchia A first proposed the concept of minimally invasive esophageal surgery, but at that time more thoracic surgeons did not think that the so-called "minimally invasive esophageal cancer surgery" was a feasible surgery. With the development of laparoscopic equipment and technology, many centers have begun to use esophageal cancer resection combined with auxiliary technologies such as thoracoscopy, laparoscopy, mediastinoscopy, robotics, and small incisions. These surgical methods that can reduce trauma during and after esophageal cancer surgery can be generally referred to as minimally invasive esophageal cancer surgery. However, it is very difficult to define minor trauma or minimally invasive trauma, and there is currently no unified standard. With the development of minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer, many centers have reported the feasibility and safety of minimally invasive techniques for esophageal cancer. They believe that minimally invasive techniques have the advantages of less trauma, less pain, and faster recovery, and are similar to traditional open surgery in terms of surgical complications and postoperative quality of life [2,3]. However, currently, most of the literature reports in the world are retrospective studies, and there is a lack of randomized controlled trials to confirm the breakthrough and safety of minimally invasive esophageal cancer surgery in surgical operations.

2. Application of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopy in Esophageal Cancer Surgery

Video-assisted thoracoscic surgery (VATS) is a new surgical technique developed in the early 1990s and is used in most areas of thoracic surgery. In 1991, Pellegrini et al. first applied thoracoscopic surgery to the treatment of benign esophageal diseases and performed thoracoscopic esophageal myotomy, esophageal leiomyoma removal, and hiatal hernia repair. Collard, Gossot and others subsequently carried out video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy. Through the unremitting pursuit and struggle of thoracic surgeons, more and more experience has been accumulated in the application of video-assisted thoracoscopy in esophageal cancer surgery, and good clinical results have been achieved.

Currently, the main treatment for esophageal tumors is still surgery, but traditional surgery has many problems. For example, surgery will cause greater trauma to the patient and will cause many complications, which is unsatisfactory. In comparison, minimally invasive surgery has many advantages, but because minimally invasive technology is still in its early stages in my country and is slowly being accepted by people, I believe that minimally invasive technology is the main direction of development.