Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. May 27, 2026; 18(5): 116490
Published online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i5.116490
Published online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i5.116490
Thoracoscopic vs open esophagectomy: Short-term efficacy with laparoscopic gastric tube
Yong-Sheng Meng, Xiao-Wei Zhang, Jun-Jun Zhou, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Ninth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100101, China
Jin-Long Kang, Department of Thoracic Anesthesiology, The Ninth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100101, China
Co-first authors: Yong-Sheng Meng and Xiao-Wei Zhang.
Author contributions: Meng YS, Zhang XW, and Zhou JJ contributed to conceptualization and design; Meng YS and Zhang XW contributed to data collection, experimental operations, data analysis and interpretation, initial paper writing, and paper revision as co-first authors; Kang JL and Zhou JJ contributed to review; Kang JL provides technical support, data organization and visualization; Zhou JJ contributed to funding acquisition, project management and supervision, and critical revision; all authors approved the final version.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by Research Ethics Committee of the Ninth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 2023(LD-018).
Informed consent statement: All study participants and their legal guardians provided written informed consent before recruitment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Corresponding author: Jun-Jun Zhou, Research Fellow, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Ninth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 9 Anxiang Beili, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China. jun9zx@163.com
Received: December 12, 2025
Revised: January 18, 2026
Accepted: February 25, 2026
Published online: May 27, 2026
Processing time: 166 Days and 4.1 Hours
Revised: January 18, 2026
Accepted: February 25, 2026
Published online: May 27, 2026
Processing time: 166 Days and 4.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This retrospective study demonstrated that minimally invasive thoracoscopic esophagectomy, when combined with laparoscopic gastric mobilization, provides superior short-term outcomes compared to conventional open surgery for esophageal cancer. It minimizes surgical trauma and accelerates recovery, reduces postoperative pain, systemic inflammation, and stress response, and ultimately enhancing patients’ early postoperative quality of life. These findings support broader clinical adoption of this minimally invasive surgical approach.