Tsuyoshi Tanaka

New Combined Medical Treatment With Etilefrine and Octreotide for Chylothorax After Esophagectomy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

AbstractPostoperative chylothorax is a rare but well-known complication of general thoracic surgery. Medical treatment of chylothorax was reported in the past, but there is still considerable controversy on the appropriate management strategies.Two patients with esophageal cancer underwent esophagectomy, 2-field lymph node dissection, and resection of thoracic duct together with ileocolic reconstruction via the retrosternal route at our hospital. Chylothorax developed on the 32nd postoperative day (POD) in 1 patient and the 12th POD in the other, manifesting as a change in the character of thoracic drainage to turbid white. Both were immediately started on octreotide (300 &mgr;g/ day) and etilefrine (120 mg/day). When the amount of pleural effusion decreased to <50 mL/day, we performed pleurodesis with Picibanil (OK432). Thereafter, the patients gradually made satisfactory progress and resumed oral food intake, and the thoracotomy tubes were eventually removed. They have remained recurrence-free at the time of writing.In this report, we demonstrated the clinical efficacy of etilefrine for the management of postesophagectomy chylothorax. New medical treatment options for this condition are now broad and the usefulness of combined therapy consisting of a sclerosing agent, etilefrine, and octreotide is underscored, regardless of the status of the thoracic duct.

Effectiveness of postoperative intravenous acetaminophen (Acelio) after gastrectomy: A propensity score-matched analysis.

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of postoperative scheduled intravenous acetaminophen to reduce the opioid use and enhance recovery after gastrectomy.Opioid use is reportedly associated with delayed recovery of gastrointestinal (GI) peristalsis and postoperative nausea/vomiting (PONV) despite of acceptable efficacy for pain control.Of 147 and 96 consecutive patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer before and after introduction of postoperative scheduled intravenous acetaminophen, propensity score matched population was created and short-term clinical outcomes were compared.Significant defervescence was demonstrated in Acetaminophen group (A-group) compared with control group (C-group) during the perioperative period (P < 0.001), whereas no significant difference was observed in postoperative inflammatory parameters. The incidence of postoperative complications was similar between the groups. The number of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pushes was significantly reduced in the A-group (P = 0.007) and the frequency of use of other nonopioid analgesics was also significantly reduced in the A-group (P < 0.001). Both daily and cumulative opioid use was significantly reduced in the A-group (P < 0.001). The time to first flatus and defecation was decreased in the A-group (P < 0.001 and P = 0.038, respectively). The incidence of PONV was significantly reduced from 26.0% to 12.5% after introduction of intravenous acetaminophen (P = 0.017), and hospital stay tended to be decreased in the A-group (13.2 vs 14.7 days, P = 0.069)Postoperative scheduled intravenous acetaminophen decreased opioid use and may be associated with enhanced recovery after gastrectomy.

Gastroenterological surgery: esophagus.

1-1 Which stages of thoracic esophageal cancer are indicated for thoracoscopic surgery? In many facilities, thoracoscopic surgery is indicated for cStages I, II, and III, except cT4, according to the TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours, seventh edition, or cStages I–IVa, except cT4, according to the Japanese Classification of Esophageal Cancer, 10th edition, edited by the Japan Esophageal Society.

Re-evaluation of the role of thoracoscopic esophagectomy as a Japanese-style radical surgery

PurposeTo investigate the value of thoracoscopic surgery in radical esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy.Materials and methodThe subjects were 329 consecutive patients who, without preoperative chemoradiotherapy, underwent R0 radical esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy for thoracic squamous cell esophageal cancers during 1998–2013. Open thoracotomy was applied in 212 (O), and thoracoscopic surgery in 117 (V). Survivals according to TNM Stages and Efficacy index (EI) were analyzed.ResultsHospital death rates of O/V were 1.9/0%. The survivals of V according to TNM Stages had significantly better prognosis in TNM6th cStage III and showed not worse prognosis in general. In the analysis using Cox proportional hazards model, “V or O” was a significant prognostic factor indicating better prognosis of V. More bilateral paratracheal lymph nodes along the recurrent laryngeal nerves tended to be classified as mediastinal instead of cervical in V. Efficacy index of mediastinal paratracheal nodes was higher in V than in O, while cervical lymphadenectomy maintained high EI.Discussion and conclusionThough our series have limitations of retrospective study and substantial bias, the feasibility and safety of thoracoscopic esophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy was shown. Higher paratracheal lymph nodes along the recurrent laryngeal nerves could be dissected from the mediastinal side in V group. Thoracoscopic esophagectomy, which is regarded as minimally invasive surgery in other countries, is being accepted in Japan mainly in the expectation of more thorough and meticulous lymphadenectomy. At the same time, the dissection range is continuously re-evaluated for safer surgery maintaining radicality.

Factors Predicting Effectiveness of Neoadjuvant Therapy for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

AbstractThe aim of the study was to elucidate pretreatment factors that can predict the outcome of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy (NAC(R)T) and help us choose treatment strategies appropriate for individual patients.Few studies have investigated whether clinical data obtainable before the treatment can predict the efficacy of NAC(R)T.Of 1540 patients treated for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) at our department between January 2000 and June 2014, those who underwent surgical resection of cStage II or more advanced ESCC after NAC(R)T (113 NACRT and 146 NACT patients) were enrolled in this study. Information all available before the treatment was analyzed to extract factors that can predict the effectiveness of NAC(R)T. NAC(R)T was considered effective when Grade 2 or greater treatment efficacy was achieved based on the histological grading system.NACRT was effective in 51 (45%) of 113 patients. The analysis of 35 pretreatment factors showed that female sex (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.650; 1.181–11.236), absence of dyslipidemia (HR = 3.284; 1.341–8.041), and histologically poorly differentiated tumor (HR = 2.431; 1.052–5.619) were factors predicting NACRT effectiveness. On the other hand, NACT was effective in 21 (14%) of 146 patients. The analysis of pretreatment factors showed that absence of dyslipidemia (HR = 10.204; 1.302–83.33) and therapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (HR = 2.097; 1.027–4.280) were factors predicting NACT effectiveness.The findings of this study investigating factors that could predict the outcome of NAC(R)T suggest that the prevalence of dyslipidemia influences the outcome of NAC(R)T for ESCC.