LAUSR

Minimal invasive oesophagectomy has gained increasing popularity. This study reports the results of the first two years after introducing the technique at our department. All procedures have been prospectively registered in a database. All patients were followed until death, 2 years after surgery, or end of the inclusion period. 140 procedures were performed (23 November 2015 to 1 February 2018). There were 19 women and 121 men. Median age was 67 years (range 16–83 years). Pathologic T-and N-stage is shown in table 1. Patients were divided into the first 70 patients and the last 70 patients. The mean procedure time was 352 minutes for the ‘first patients’ and 331 minutes for the ‘last patients’ (P < 0.001). The risk for conversion to open surgery in the abdominal procedure was 6% for the ‘first patients’ and 9% for the ‘last patients’ (NS). For the thoracic procedure the corresponding figures were 11% and 6% (NS), respectively. Median length of postoperative stay was 9 days for both groups. The risk of anastomotic leakage was 16% (‘first patients’) and 11% (‘last patients’) (NS). However, in only 4% and 7%, respectively, endoscopic or surgical treatment was required. For all 140 patients, pulmonary complications were observed in 26 cases (18%) and cardiac complications were registered in 15 cases (11%).The 30 day mortality rate was 3% (131 patients) and the 1 year survival rate was 83% (53 patients). Table 1: Pathologic T-and N-stage Minimal invasive oesophagectomy can be introduced at a department with acceptable short time morbidity. All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.