Comparison of laparoscopic surgery and hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery in esophagectomy: A propensity score-matched analysis.

INTRODUCTION Laparoscopic surgery (LAP) and hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) for mobilization of the stomach and abdominal lymph node dissection in esophagectomy have become standard procedures in Japan. However, the differences in outcomes between LAP and HALS have not been examined. We aimed to compare the safety and feasibility of these techniques in patients undergoing esophagectomy. METHODS We assessed 171 patients who underwent esophagectomy and reconstruction for clinical stage 0 to IVa esophageal cancer; 108 patients were treated with HALS and 63 with LAP. Mortality, morbidity, and long-term survival were compared in all patients who had undergone these surgical procedures and then in 59 propensity score-matched pairs to correct for differences in baseline characteristics. RESULTS In our analysis, HALS had a shorter abdominal operative time (84.4 ± 26.6 vs 110.0 ± 34.1 minutes, P < .0001), but LAP enabled a larger number of abdominal lymph nodes to be harvested with (17.9 ± 6.6 vs 15.4 ± 7.4, P = .0486). The 5-year overall survival rates were 62.1% and 74.5% (P = .1257) for patients who had undergone HALS and LAP, respectively, and the relapse-free survival rates were 67.0% and 72.3% (P = .7243). CONCLUSIONS There were no significant differences in postoperative mortality and morbidity between the two groups. This suggests that in addition to having a short operative time, HALS has good technical feasibility and is oncologically safe for patients with esophageal cancer.