Mediastinal lymphadenectomy under laparoscopic assisted single-port inflatable mediastinoscopy through left neck approach

Xiangfeng Gan; Hongcheng Zhong; Xiaojian Li; Xiaojin Wang; Wenwen Huo; Tianchi Wu; Beilong Zhong; Bin Zhang; Hua Cheng; Xiangwen Wu; Qingdong Cao

doi:10.21037/tcr-20-467

Mediastinal lymphadenectomy under laparoscopic assisted single-port inflatable mediastinoscopy through left neck approach

Transl Cancer Res. 2020 Aug;9(8):4976-4981. doi: 10.21037/tcr-20-467.

Authors

Xiangfeng Gan^#^{1

2}, Hongcheng Zhong^#^{1

2}, Xiaojian Li¹, Xiaojin Wang¹, Wenwen Huo¹, Tianchi Wu¹, Beilong Zhong¹, Bin Zhang¹, Hua Cheng¹, Xiangwen Wu^{1

2}, Qingdong Cao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) has been developed for decades. However, conventional MIE requires transthoracic surgery, which can increase the risk of many perioperative cardiopulmonary complications. Therefore, mediastinoscopy-assisted transhiatal esophagectomy has been proposed, but the traditional surgical methods have shortcomings, such as unclear vision, especially during the dissection of mediastinal lymph nodes (LNs). A new approach for mediastinal lymphadenectomy under single-port inflatable mediastinoscopy with one left-neck incision is proposed. There are three difficulties in this procedure. (I) LNs along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). After establishing pneumomediastinum, esophagectomy is performed over the aortic arch to the level of the lower edge of the left main bronchus, and lymphadenectomy along the left RLN is also accomplished during this process. (II) LNs along the right RLN. At the level of the lower edge of the right subclavian artery (RSA), between the trachea and the esophagus, instruments are used to access the right RLN. Lymphadenectomy of up to 2 cm can be accomplished at the upper edge of the RSA. (III) Subcarinal LNs. Between the trachea and esophagus, the left and right main bronchi are exposed along the trailing edge of the trachea down to the carina, and lymphadenectomy can be performed here. The surgical procedure described here in detail is the first mediastinal lymphadenectomy under mediastinoscopy with one single left-neck incision.

Keywords: Lymphadenectomy; lymph nodes (LNs); mediastinoscopy; minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE).