Comparison of Early and Late Complications in Three Esophagectomy Techniques

Due to the high prevalence and mortality rates of esophageal cancer in some parts of the world and considering that in most patients, symptoms occur when cancer is advanced, this study aimed to compare early and late complications in three esophagectomy techniques for treatment of esophageal cancer.
The present study was a descriptive research on 316 patients with esophageal cancer referring to Shohada Tajrish hospital, Tehran. The results were recorded in the research forms consisting of individual characteristics, symptoms and reasons for referring to the hospital. Findings were extracted after classification and evaluated using descriptive statistics.
Among 316 patients studied, 190 patients (60%) were male and 126 (40%) were female. The highest prevalence was between 40 and 60 years old. The most significant reason for referring to the hospital was dysphagia and weight loss. Among 260 patients, 72 patients (27.7%) underwent surgery by transthoracic (Ivor Lewis type) approach, 76 patients (29.2%) underwent surgery by three-incision approach (Mc Keown procedure), and 112 patients (43%) underwent surgery by Trans-Hiatal (Oringer). A total of 36 deaths occurred. 22 deaths occurred using Ivor-Lewis (61%), 10 deaths occurred using Mc Keown (27.7%) and 4 deaths occurred after Oringer (11.1%). In terms of prevalence of complications, the most common early complication was pleural effusion (11%) and the most common late complication was anastomotic stricture (17.8%).
Complications occurred in all three surgeries. The most complications occurred using transthoracic (Ivor Lewis type) approach and the least complications occurred using Trans-Hiatal (Oringer).