fig3

Figure 3. Thoracic portion of robotic McKeown esophagectomy. Once the ports are placed [A: (c) camera port; (a) assistant port] and the robot is docked, dissection begins at the inferior pulmonary ligament (B); as the dissection is carried en bloc superiorly, a Penrose drain is placed around the esophagus (C) to aid in retraction. The airway is visualized during skeletonization for cases of malignancy (D; BI); the azygos vein (E) is divided, and dissection is carried up to the apex with creation of a pleural tent (F, red arrow pointing towards the mobilized esophagus). One Penrose drain is tucked at the apex (G) while another is tucked at the diaphragm (H) prior to closing the chest (I). BI: bronchus intermedius