Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy

Ivor Lewis esophagectomy, also called transthoracic esophagectomy, is a surgical procedure that removes part of the esophagus through combined abdominal and right-chest incisions, most often to treat esophageal cancer. The surgeon reconstructs the digestive tract by joining the remaining esophagus to the stomach inside the chest, restoring the ability to swallow. It is named for the Welsh surgeon Ivor Lewis, who described the technique in a 1946 lecture to the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and it remains a standard approach for cancer of the middle and lower esophagus.