ABSTRACT
Before 1946, the only widely practiced approach to the thoracic esophagus had been described by Sweet using a leftsided thoracotomy. Although this operation permitted relatively good access to the lower third of the esophagus, cancers of the middle and upper third of the esophagus were dissected with greater difficulty because of the overlying aortic arch. In 1946, Lewis described the abdominal and right thoracic approach for subtotal esophagectomy. This operation was adopted by Tanner in the United Kingdom (LewisTanner operation) and by Santy in France (Lewis-Santy
operation), and has remained the favored operation for an abdominal and right thoracic subtotal esophagectomy.
