Minimally invasive treatment of esophageal cancer: laparoscopic staging to robotic esophagectomy

Abstract

Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures have become commonplace in modern surgical practice. The term minimally invasive surgery has been and continues to be interchangeably applied to describe laparoscopic, laparoscopic-assisted, thoracoscopic, and telesurgical (robotic) procedures. Minimally invasive surgical procedures for the treatment of benign and malignant disorders of the esophagus are being developed, refined, and clinically applied in parallel with the exponential availability of novel technologies and instrumentation. Herein, we review the progression from laparoscopic/thoracoscopic esophagectomy to telesurgical esophagectomy, presently termed minimally invasive esophagectomy, and describe the telesurgical procedure as well as early the clinical outcome experience.