Focusing On Patients

Making Surgery Safer
(continued)

Even done with a laparoscope, an esophagectomy is a rigorous operation.

"The esophagus is close to many major structures in the chest. It's behind the heart and next to the aorta, the body's biggest artery," says Nguyen. "Doing this procedure laparo- scopically is very challenging and requires a high degree of technical skill."

Because of this difficulty, only four institutions in the United States perform minimally-invasive esophagectomy.

"You could count on one hand the number of surgeons who do laparoscopic esophagec- tomy in this country," offers Dr. James Goodnight, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery. "Dr. Nguyen is one of the best."

The results of laparoscopic esophagectomy bode well for its future. Nguyen has compared the results of 14 patients on whom he performed laparo- scopic esophagectomy versus 17 patients who have had open surgery. All surgeries were per- formed since Nguyen came to UC Davis in 1998. Those who had laparoscopic esophagectomy left the hospital in five to eight days - about half the length of the typical hospital stay. They also had fewer complications, less discomfort, and lost less blood.