Hybrid esophagectomy

Esophagectomy is a complex surgical procedure associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity, mainly dominated by pulmonary complications. Minimally invasive approaches have been developed in order to decrease postoperative morbidity, including totally minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) and hybrid esophagectomy in which one surgical step is achieved either by laparoscopy or thoracoscopy and the other step by open approach. In this review, we will discuss the main results of this hybrid approach in esophagectomy for cancer. Hybrid esophagectomy is associated with better postoperative outcomes compared to open approach, and similar outcomes compared to totally MIE, especially concerning pulmonary complications. For long-terms outcomes, hybrid approach showed similar, or even better, overall survival than open approach. With a short learning curve, hybrid esophagectomy with laparoscopic gastric mobilization will be the future gold standard for esophagectomy and should be further compared with totally MIE.