Abstract
Background
Lymph node dissection (LND) along the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) is a challenging surgical procedure that carries a high risk of morbidity, especially in patients who had undergone chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Here, we retrospectively examined the feasibility and safety of thoracoscopic RLN LND in patients with esophageal cancer who had been previously treated with CRT.
Methods
Patients with esophageal cancer who had undergone thoracoscopic esophagectomy with RLN LND were divided into two groups according to prior treatment with CRT or not (CRT group versus upfront surgery [US] group, respectively). Intergroup comparisons were made in terms of 1) number of dissected nodes, 2) rates of RLN palsy, and 3) rates of perioperative complications. The learning curve for the RLN LND procedure was investigated with the cumulative sum (CUSUM) method.
Results
A total of 103 patients with esophageal cancer were included in the study (CRT group: n = 65; US group: n = 38). No conversion to open thoracotomy was required in either group. Moreover, intraoperative blood loss and the need for blood transfusions were similar. The technical challenges of RLN LND after CRT were more evident when performed in the left side. Accordingly, complete skeletonization of the left RLN was achieved only for 66.2% of patients in the CRT group, a percentage significantly lower than that obtained in the US group (86.8%; P = 0.022). Similarly, the rate of postoperative RLN palsy in the left side was significantly higher in the CRT group than in the US group (32.6% vs. 9.1%, respectively, P = 0.015), albeit not resulting in higher pneumonia rates. CUSUM analysis revealed a steep learning curve for left RLN LND performed in patients who had undergone CRT. Significant fluctuations in RLN palsy rates were observed over time, suggesting that proficiency did not improve linearly with increasing surgical experience.
Conclusion
To our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically investigate the feasibility and safety of thoracoscopic RLN LND in patients with esophageal cancer who had undergone CRT. Our data indicate that RLN LND is feasible even after CRT, although the technical challenges to be faced are greater than in CRT-naïve patients.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Symposium 3: Recent progress in Diagnosis and Treatment of Esophageal Cancer