Abstract
Aims:
To assess the postoperative morbidity and mortality, length of stay and long-term survival after resection of carcinoma of the oesophagus and gastro-oesophageal junction, after establishment of a new surgical team unit between thoracic and gastroenterologic surgeons.
Methods:
We analysed the prospective collected data of 166 consecutive patients who underwent a transthoracic oesophageal resection between June 1997 and December 2003.
Results:
There were 119 men and 47 women. The median age was 63 years (range 36–81). Fifty-five patients (33 %) had squamous cell carcinoma and 111 (67 %) had adenocarcinoma. Postoperative complications occurred in a total of 60 patients (36 %). Ten patients (6 %) died postoperatively, eight (4.8 %) due to medical and two (1.2 %) due to surgical complications. The median postoperative length of stay was 11 days (range 6–75). The overall 3- and 5- years survival was 35.6 % and 30.6 % respectively. Survival was adversely affected by patient age and tumor stage.
Conclusions:
Concentrating resection for carcinoma of the oesophagus and oesophagogastric junction to a dedicated team of specialists, including both gastrointestinal and thoracic surgeons as well as thoracic-anaesthesiological know-how, results in acceptable complication rates as well as low mortality rates especially due to surgical complications.