Esophageal cancer (EC) is among the most common malignances and one of the leading causes of cancerrelated death worldwide. Surgery plays a significant role in the multidisciplinary treatment for esophageal cancer. Recent advances in minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE), including conventional thoracoscopic surgery and more recent robotic surgery, has been shown to improve short-term outcomes compared to open surgery. Robot-assisted minimally invasive esophagectomy (RAMIE) was first performed in 2003 and has been increasingly utilized in tertiary medical centers. Compared to conventional video-assisted minimally esophagectomy (VAMIE), RAMIE provides certain advantages such as increased magnification, three-dimensional visual clarity and better lymphadenectomy, with superior short-term outcome and at least equivalent oncological results. This review focuses on the techniques, benefits and obstacles in applications of robotic esophagectomy for treating EC, meanwhile discussing the future of robotic esophageal surgery.

Received Date: 2020-04-03 Accepted Date: 2020-04-10

Foundation Item: National Natural Science Foundation of China (81871882), Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning Outstanding Academic Leaders Training Program (2017BR055) and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission—Gaofeng Clinical Medicine Grant (20172005).

Corresponding Author: LI Hecheng, Email: lihecheng2000@hotmail.com

Citation: ZHANG J H, ZHANG Y J, LI H C, Applications and Prospects of Robotic Surgery in Esophageal Cancer [J]. Chinese Journal of Robotic Surgery, 2020, 1(1):50-56.

*These authors have contributed equally to this work.

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