Natural orifice transesophageal thoracoscopic surgery: A review of the current state

Table 1 Access techniques and interventions performed in swine transesophageal NOTES studies

Study	Year	Number ofsubjects (n)	Survival study (Yes/No), (n)	Days survived, (n)	Esophagotomymethod	Intervention (s) performed
Fritscher-Ravens et al[23]	2007	9	Yes2, n = 3	14, (n = 3)	Needle-knife	Mediastinoscopy, thoracoscopy, myocardial and left atrium saline injection, pericardial fenestration, lymphadenectomy
			Yes, n = 4	28, (n = 1)
			No, n = 2	42, (n = 3)
Sumiyama et al[24]	2007	4	Yes2	14	SEMF	Mediastinoscopy
Gee et al[21]	2008	4	Yes1	8, (n = 2)	m-SEMF	Pleural biopsy, Mediastinoscopy, thoracoscopy
				12, (n = 2)
Sumiyama et al[34]	2008	5	Yes2	7	SEMF	Mediastinoscopy, thoracoscopy, pericardial window, epicardial ablation
Willingham et al[22]	2008	5	No1	0	m-SEMF	Mediastinoscopy, thoracoscopy, pleural biopsy

¹Denotes administration of pre-operative antibiotics only (1 g Ancef);

²Represents post-operative antibiotics (5-7 d enrofloxacin). SEMF: Submucosal endoscopy with mucosal flap safety valve; m-SEMF: Modified SEMF.