Surgery: Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy and Robot Assisted Esophagectomy

Technical advances in endoscopic equipment and thoracoscopic surgery have increased the popularity of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE). In recent years, randomized control trials of MIE and open esophagectomy (OE) have been conducted, including in Japan, proving the usefulness of MIE. MIE has been established as the standard surgical procedure for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The recently introduced robot-assisted MIE (RAMIE) may overcome the motion restriction of MIE and enables even more precise procedures. In addition to the usefulness of RAMIE for OE, recent reports have shown its effectiveness in reducing recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. However, there are no reports on long-term prognosis, and future investigations are awaited. RAMIE has further potential for improvement, and its application to remote surgery is eagerly anticipated.