Diseases of the esophagus : official journal of the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus
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This study aims to investigate advantages of robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE) over video-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (VAMIE) in treating esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by applying propensity score-matched analysis. From April 2016 to January 2018, consecutive patients undergoing a McKeown RAMIE or VAMIE for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were prospectively included for analysis. Baseline data, pathological findings, and short-term outcomes of the two groups (RAMIE group and VAMIE group) were collected and compared. ⋯ Moreover, RAMIE was found to yield significantly more left recurrent laryngeal nerve lymph nodes (mean: 1.0 ± 1.8 vs. 0.4 ± 0.8; P = 0.033) than VAMIE without increasing the risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. Therefore, RAMIE may have the advantage of lymphadenectomy over VAMIE without increasing any risk of postoperative major complications. Further well-conducted studies, however, are needed to confirm our conclusions.