Esophageal Surgery

An oesophagus is a muscular tube that connects your throat to your stomach, allowing food to reach your stomach. It occurs when the tube becomes infected or damaged in some way due to cancer or another cause. Your doctor might suggest that you remove the infected tissue from your body. An abdominal or thoracic incision is made during laparoscopic surgery. Part or all of your esophagus is removed and reconstructed with the stomach or large intestines in this procedure.

Treatment Options

Type, stage, and overall health all affect treatment for esophageal cancer. It is recommended to undergo surgery if cancer has not spread to other parts of the body. Radiation or chemotherapy is used to shrink tumors in the esophagus so that they can be removed more easily through surgery.

Surgery

Surgery to remove very small tumors – If the tumor is small and hasn't spread, your doctor may remove it with an endoscope and several small incisions.

Surgery to remove a portion of the esophagus (esophagectomy) – By performing a standard operation, the surgeon usually removes a part of the esophagus along with a few lymph nodes surrounding it. By using intestinal tissue, the tube can be reconstructed.

Surgery to remove part of your esophagus and the upper portion of your stomach (esophagogastrectomy) – In severe cases, a portion of the top of the stomach may be removed as well.

The risks of surgery include pain, bleeding, leaking in the area where the rebuilt esophagus is attached to the stomach, lung complications, difficulty in swallowing, nausea, and heartburn.