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Minimally invasive esophagectomy; Robotic esophagectomy; Removal of the esophagus – minimally invasive
Minimally invasive esophagectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the esophagus, the tube that moves food from your throat to your stomach. After it is removed, the esophagus is rebuilt from part of your stomach or part of your large intestine.
Most of the time, esophagectomy is done to treat cancer of the esophagus.
There are many ways to do this surgery. Talk with your doctor about what type of surgery is best for you. It will depend on where in your esophagus your cancer is, how much it has spread, and how healthy you are.
Laparoscopy is one way to do this surgery:
Some medical centers do esophagectomies using robotic surgery. In this type of surgery, a small camera and other instruments are inserted through small cuts in the skin. Your surgeon will do the surgery while operating a computer and watching the monitor. The surgeon controls the instruments and camera with a computer program.
See also: Robotic surgery
These surgeries usually take 3 - 6 hours.
The most common reason for removing part, or all, of your esophagus is to treat cancer. You may also have radiation therapy or chemotherapy before or after surgery.
Surgery to remove the lower part of your esophagus may also be done to treat:
Maish M. Esophagus. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 41.
National Cancer Institute. Esophageal Cancer Treatment PDQ. Updated 1/24/2011.
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