Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy Provides Equivalent Survival to Open Esophagectomy: An Analysis of the National Cancer Database

The authors compare outcomes of open versus minimally invasive esophagectomy (OE, MIE) from the National Cancer Databased (NCDB) 2010-2012 and use propensity scoring to match patients (977 pairs).  Short term outcomes were equivalent for LOS and mortality, and median survival was similar.  Nodal removal was higher for MIE (16.3 vs 14.5).