Background and purpose: Ësophageal cancer is one of the most lethal diseases in the world. Ït has a high prevalence in Ïran, especially in the northern provinces. The main treatment of esophageal cancer is surgical. These are two surgical Procedures for its treatment. Transhiatal esophagectomy (THË) and transthoracic esophagectomy (TTË) which are of common . Since we have no previous study comparing these two procedures and due to controversies about these techniques in the literatures, we decided to compare the advantages and disadvantages of these two techniques.
Materials and Methods: Ïn this study, 44 patients from 1995 to 1998 were treated by THË and TTË technique retrospectively and were compared. The patients in both groups were matched on the basis of : age, sex, time of dysphagia, grading of dysphagia, surgical staging, pathology, history of addiction, site of tumor and underlying disease. Statistical analysis of data were done by student’s T-Test and Fisher exact probability test.
Results: Ïn our study , there was no significant differences Regarding morbidity of the two groups , but mortality rate was more in THË than TTË (P<0.05). Blood transfusions rate were more in TTË than THË (P<0.01). There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the duration of hospitalization, ÏÇÜ stay and the time of being NPÔ.
Çonclusion: Ïn this study, We found that there was no significant differences in morbidity between the two groups but mortality was more prevalent in THË than TTË. Hence it’s suggested that with better training and more gentleness, the mortality will be decreased in THË.

Keywords: transhiatal, transthoracic esophagectomy, morbidity and mortality

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