Early Endoscopy Safely Predicts Anastomotic Leakage After Esophagectomy

Early postoperative endoscopy after minimally invasive esophagectomy is safe and effective in predicting anastomotic leakage. A retrospective study with 436 patients showed that early endoscopy did not increase adverse events but significantly decreased the incidence of anastomotic leakage (9.8% vs 22.7%) and shortened hospital stays. Findings under early endoscopy also identified gastric graft ischemia as a risk factor for anastomotic leakage occurrence.