Treatment of esophageal submucosal tumors: endoscopic submucosal tunneling dissection versus thoracoscopic enucleation

We have read with great interest the article by Li et al1 in which they estimated the safety and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal tunneling dissection (ESTD) and compared it with thoracoscopic enucleation for esophageal submucosal tumors (SMTs). In this study, 74 patients undergoing ESTD and 52 patients undergoing thoracoscopic enucleation were included. The authors reported no differences in treatment efficacy between the 2 techniques for esophageal SMTs smaller than 40 mm; however, ESTD was superior to thoracoscopic enucleation, with shorter operating times, less postoperative chest pain, and shorter hospitalization times.

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