title: Thoracoscopic esophagectomy in the prone position.
abstract: Thoracoscopic esophagectomy performed with the patient in the left lateral position has been occasionally reported since the 1990s, but it has not been established as a standard procedure. This may be because the success of this procedure largely depends on the technical competence of an assistant to secure an adequate field of view during the procedure. Thoracoscopic esophagectomy with the patient in the prone position has recently been introduced and has been consistently shown to be useful. Compared with left lateral thoracoscopic esophagectomy, prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy requires less assistance in exposing the operative field and it is relatively easy to obtain a satisfactory field of view. We performed prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy on 20 patients and were successful in achieving a wide field of view. The postoperative course was remarkably favorable in all patients and the procedure is considered promising for standard thoracoscopic esophagectomy. There are few detailed reports of this procedure; herein, we describe the procedure of prone thoracoscopic esophagectomy employed at our hospital.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Matsudo City Hospital, Chiba, Japan. h-shibasaki@rb3.so-net.ne.jp
authors.forename: Hidehito
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibasaki
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056888:Patient Positioning; D016684:Prone Position; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome