Strategies to reduce pulmonary complications after esophagectomy

Esophagectomy,the surgical removal of all or part of the esophagus,is a surgical procedure that is associated with high morbidity and mortality.Pulmonary complications are an especially important postoperative problem.Therefore,many perioperative strategies to prevent pulmonary complications after esophagectomy have been investigated and introduced in daily clinical practice.Here,we review these strategies,including improvement of patient performance and technical advances such as minimally invasive surgery that have been implemented in recent years.Furthermore,interventions such as methylprednisolone,neutrophil elastase inhibitor and epidural analgesia,which have been shown to reduce pulmonary complications,are discussed.Benefits of the commonly applied routine nasogastric decompression,delay of oral intake and prophylactic mechanical ventilation are unclear,and many of these strategies are also evaluated here.Finally,we will discuss recent insights and new developments aimed to improve pulmonary outcomes after esophagectomy.

Diagnostic value of drain amylase for detecting intrathoracic leakage after esophagectomy

AIM:To investigate the value of elevated drain amylase concentrations for detecting anastomotic leakage(AL) after minimally invasive Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy(MIILE).METHODS:This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data in two hospitals in the Netherlands. Consecutive patients undergoing MI-ILE were included. A Jackson-Pratt drain next to the dorsal side of the anastomosis and bilateral chest drains were placed at the end of the thoracoscopic procedure. Amylase levels in drain fluid were determined in all patients during at least the first four postoperative days. Contrast computed tomography scans and/or endoscopic imaging were performed in cases of a clinically suspected AL. Anastomotic leakage was defined as any sign of leakage of the esophago-gastric anastomosis on endoscopy,re-operation,radiographic investigations,post mortal examination or when gastro-intestinal contents were found in drain fluid. Receiver operator characteristic curves were used to determine the cut-off values. Sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value,risk ratio and overall test accuracy were calculated for elevated drain amylase concentrations.RESULTS:A t o t a l o f 8 9 p a t ie n t s w e re in c lu d e d between March 2013 and August 2014. No differences in group characteristics were observed between patients with and without AL,except for age. Patients with AL were older than were patients without AL(P = 0.01). One patient(1.1%) without AL died within 30 d after surgery due to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Anastomotic leakage that required any intervention occurred in 15 patients(16.9%). Patients with proven anastomotic leakage had higher drain amylase levels than patients without anastomotic leakage [median 384 IU/L(IQR 34-6263) vs median 37 IU/L(IQR 26-66),P = 0.003]. Optimal cut-off values on postoperative days 1,2,and 3 were 350 IU/L,200 IU/L and 160 IU/L,respectively. An elevated amylase level was found in 9 of the 15 patients with AL. Five of these 9 patients had early elevations of their amylase levels,with a median of 2 d(IQR 2-5) before signs and symptoms occurred.CONCLUSION:Measurement of drain amylase levels is an inexpensive and easy tool that may be used to screen for anastomotic leakage soon after MI-ILE. However,clinical validation of this marker is necessary.