587. ROLE OF THORACOSCOPIC HAND-SEWN ESOPHAGO-GASTRIC ANASTOMOSIS IN 2-STAGE TOTALLY MINIMALLY INVASIVE ESOPHAGECTOMY. REPORT OF 200 CONSECUTIVE CASES

Abstract Esophagectomy is the mainstay of treatment of esophageal and gastro-esophageal junction cancer. Minimally invasive esophagectomy has been introduced in the 2000s in an effort to reduce post-operative pulmonary and cardiac complications. 2-stage totally minimally invasive esophagectomy combines laparoscopic abdominal phase followed by thoracoscopic thoracic phase. The rate limiting step of the procedure is the construction of esophago-gastric anastomosis. We aim to present our technique and results on hand-sewn thoracoscopic esophago-gastric anastomosis in prone position. This is prospective analysis of consecutive patients that underwent 2-stage totally minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal and gastro-esophageal junction Siewert type I-II cancers. All operations were identical in terms of patient positioning, lymphadenectomy and type of anastomosis formed. Study included adult patients with no upper age limit (>18 years); all hybrid esophagectomies, esophagectomies for malignancy and emergency operations were excluded from the study. The anastomosis was manually facilitated thoracoscopic in prone position, in 2-layers, using barbed sutures. Primary endpoints were anastomotic leakage and anastomotic stricture rate. Secondary endpoints were 30- and 90-day mortality rates. During a 5-years-period, n=200 consecutive patients underwent 2-stage totally minimally invasive esophagectomy for cancer. Most patients were males. Median age was 65.5 years. Median operative time was 280 minutes while median suturing time for the anastomosis was 50 minutes. Anastomosis was thoracoscopic, hand-sewn constructed in prone position in all cases. There was no conversion to open. Anastomotic leak complicated n=5 patients (2.5%); n=4 were type I anastomotic leaks and n=1 was type I, which was treated with chest drainage. Anastomotic stricture was presented in n=13 patients (6.5%). 30-day mortality rate was 1% and 90-day mortality rate was 2.5%. Formation of the esophago-gastric anastomosis is one of the most challenging aspects during 2-stage totally minimally invasive esophagectomy. Most surgeons prefer the construction using circular or linear staplers. Our anastomotic technique, present a safe and effective anastomosis, with favorable clinical outcomes. It can be reproduced and established in the hand of experts, offering all the advantages of manual anastomosis and reduction of devastating post-operative anastomotic leakage, which still complicates stapled constructed anastomosis with significant incidence.