Abstract
Abstract Background Management of postoperative chylothorax generally involves nutritional regimens as well as pharmacological and surgical therapies, but a clear consensus has yet to be reached. The aim of this study was to clarify the usefulness of an etilefrine regimen to broaden the medical treatment options for postoperative chylothorax after esophagectomy with resection of the thoracic duct. Methods A total of 371 consecutive patients with esophageal cancer were identified from a prospectively constructed database at the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Toranomon Hospital between January 2011 and February 2017. They were patients with squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma of the esophagus including Siewert type I, II tumor of the esophagogastric junction who underwent subtotal esophagectomy. Of these 371 patients, 19 patients who were diagnosed with chylothorax as a postoperative complication were enrolled in this study. Results Conservative treatment achieved cure in 16 patients among 19 patients. The duration of chylothorax tended to be longer in the no-etilefrine group (n = 5) than in the etilefrine group (n = 11) (27.8 vs. 11.6 days; P = 0.078). The 14 patients among 19 patients was resected the thoracic duct. Etilefrine was used in 12 of these 14 patients. Among these 12 patients, 3 required surgical treatment and the remaining 9 patients were cured with conservative treatment. The duration of chylothorax was shorter in the conservative treatment group than in the surgical treatment group (11.9 vs. 36.3 days; P = 0.052). And also, with the use of etilefrine as adjuvant therapy, cure was achieved in 9 patients (75%) without surgical intervention. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest the effectiveness of etilefrine in patients with chylothorax following esophagectomy. The drug was effective even in post-TDR chylothorax, an often intractable condition that is difficult to treat conservatively. However, when the effectiveness of etilefrine regimen is unexpectedly poor, it is important to switch from drug therapy to surgical treatment in the early stage of this complication. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
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