Abstract:Objective To compare the clinical efficacy of thoracoscopic laparoscopy combined with esophagectomy and open surgery in treatment of thoracic esophageal cancer.Methods 207 patients with thoracic esophageal cancer treated in the Third People's Hospital of Hefei and Anhui Provincial Hospital from January 2015 to December 2020 were selected as the research objects and divided into thoracoscopic laparoscopy group (n = 81) and open group (n = 126). The thoracoscopic laparoscopy group was treated with thoracoscopic laparoscopy combined with esophagectomy, and the open group was treated with open surgery. The perioperative indicators, surgical complications and short-term survival were compared between the two groups.Results The operation was successfully completed in the two groups, and there was no operative death. There was no significant difference in the operation time between the two groups (P > 0.05). The intraoperative blood loss in the thoracoscopic laparoscopy group was less than that in the open group [(141.48 ± 82.03) and (217.85 ± 12.51) mL], and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05); postoperative hospital stay [(16.00 ± 5.39) and (18.88 ± 8.79) d], the number of lymph nodes dissected [(29.70 ± 11.63) and (33.67 ± 17.87)], the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05); the number of dissected lymph nodes next to the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the thoracoscopic laparoscopy group was more than that in the open gruop (7.41 and 4.86 pieces/case), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of pulmonary complications, cardiac complications and anastomotic leakage between the two groups (P > 0.05), but the rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury in the thoracoscopic laparoscopy group was higher than that in the open group (29.6% and 11.9%), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the 1-year survival rate between the two groups (100.0% and 90.5%) (P > 0.05).Conclusion Thoracoscopic laparoscopy combined with esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer is safe and feasible. It has obvious advantages in reducing the amount of surgical blood loss and strengthening the dissection of the upper mediastinum, especially the lymph nodes next to the recurrent laryngeal nerve, and has important promotion and application value.