Ivor Lewis robotic assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy: different approaches

Abstract

The best surgical approach for esophageal cancer remains controversial. Minimally invasive esophagectomy has gained popularity over the last two decades, and has shown some advantages over open esophagectomy (OE) without compromising oncologic outcomes. Surgical robotics has expanded on that approach with the development of the robotic assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE). A growing experience has been described from highly specialized centers, however, long-term data remains sparse. We describe our operative approach in detail herein, and provide a summarization of different technical considerations published in the literature to date.