431. DISSECTION OF THE SUPRACARINAL MESOESOPHAGUS RECURRENTIAL LYMPHADENECTOMY AND RECURRENT NERVE DAMAGE

Abstract

Background Currently, an extended mediastinal lymphadenectomy is considered paramount for an accurate cancer staging as well as to improve the oncologic outcomes of patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. Following the recently described supracarinal mesoesophagus (Cuesta et. al. 2023) allows a complete lymphadenectomy, including the left recurrential area. However, this dissection represents a considerable challenge and could be associated with significant complications. The aim of this study is to analyse if the extended lymphadenectomy guided by the anatomy of the superior mesoesophagus enables a more careful dissection of the recurrent nerves in order to avoid an injury of these structures. Methods We prospectively studied all patients in our centre with advanced esophageal cancer, from 2018 to 2023, who underwent esophagectomy and recurrent lymphadenectomy following the surgical plane of the supracarinal mesoesophagus (both unilateral and bilateral). All procedures were performed as curative intent by the same surgeon. We analysed all patients with recurrent nerve lesions and their severity, as well as their implication through the postoperative period and the treatment needed for their repair. In addition, we also studied the number of adenopathies included in the specimen, specifying those that belonged to the recurrential area and its positivity for tumoral cells. Results We included 40 patients in our study, 30 men and 10 women with an average age of 65 years. All of them received neoadyuvant therapy previous to the surgery (mostly CROSS and FLOT schemes). There were only 2 patients (5%) who suffered from permanent recurrent palsy, both needing surgical treatment for its correction. Two other patients had mild dysphonia that could be resolved with phoniatric rehabilitation. No fatal outcome occurred secondary to recurrent nerve injury. The median number of adenopathies resected in total was 35, while the median number of adenopathies corresponding to the recurrential area was 5. Conclusions In this study we have observed that, following the landmarks of the supracarinal mesoesophagus allows us to perform an extended mediastinal lymphadenectomy reducing the recurrent nerves injury down to only 5%. Even though a lesion of the recurrent nerves could imply a major influence on the quality of life, performing this dissection meticulously could improve the quality of cancer staging, overall and disease-free survival without significantly increasing the risk of recurrent nerve damage. For this reason, the proper knowledge of these anatomical planes of dissection may help improve lymphadenectomies without increasing or even reducing the rate of recurrent nerve injury.