Combined endoluminal-intracavitary thoracoscopic enucleation of leiomyoma of the esophagus. A new method.

Thoracoscopic enucleation of leiomyoma of the esophagus was successfully performed in three cases with a new technique called the "balloon push-out method." Instead of pulling the tumor, which is hard to grasp because of its delicate nature, we pushed it out of the esophageal wall with a balloon-mounted intraluminal endoscope in order to perform the operation faster and more safely. We found this technique to be very useful in this kind of operation.