Short-term Outcomes Of Robot-assisted Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy Compared With Video-assisted Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy For Esophageal Cancer

BackgroundThe thoracoscope and laparoscope were developed to reduce surgical invasion.However,there are many limitations with them,so robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy(RAMIE)was to overcome these limitation.But RAMIE has not been widely used as a standard treatment of esophageal cancer due to its difficult learning curve.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of RAMIE compared with video-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy(VAMIE).MethodsIn this study,67 patients(RAMIE group: 34 patients;VAMIE group:33 patients)underwent RAMIE or VAMIE in our institution from January2016 to March 2018.Patient characteristics,postoperative outcomes,andpathological data were compared.ResultsThe operation time was significantly longer in the RAMIE group compared to that in the VAMIE group(387.4 ± 108.5 and 320.6 ± 65.6mins,respectively;Z=-2.598;P = 0.009).The mean number of harvested lymph nodes was significantly greater in the RAMIE group than in the VAMIE group(25.5 ± 6.2 and 21.9 ± 7.1,respectively;Z=-2.003;P =0.045).Between the RAMIE and VAMIE groups,there was no significant difference in blood loss(180.9 ± 383.1 and 222.1 ± 431.4 ml;t=-0.464;P =0.644),postoperative hospital stays(16.7 ± 9.8 and 16.0 ± 9.8 days;Z=-0.088;P = 0.930),or rate of overall complications(32.4 and 36.4%;x2=0.119;P = 0.730).ConclusionsCompared with VAMIE,RAMIE is safe and feasible for the treatment of esophageal cancer,and it can harvest a greater number of lymph nodes.