Objective   To analyze the metastasis rule of abdominal lymph node from thoracic esophagus carcinoma.

  Methods   The abdominal lymph node data on 164 patients who had undergone resection of thoracic esophageal carcinoma were analyzed retrospectively. Grouping was based on the upper, middle, and lower thoracic esophagus. Differences in tumor infiltration depth, differentiated degree, pathological type, pathological stage, and metastasis rate of the abdominal lymph node among the three groups were compared. The metastasis rates of the abdominal lymph nodes among the different tumor infiltration depths, differentiated degrees, and pathological types were also compared.

  Results   The base condition of tumor infiltration depth, differentiated degree, pathological type, and pathological stage has no statistical significance among the upper, middle, and lower thoracic esophagus. The metastasis rate of the abdominal lymph node also has no statistical significance among the three groups (upper, 6.9%; middle, 27.4%; and lower, 39.6%). Moreover, the metastasis rate of the abdominal lymph node has no statistical significance among the different tumor infiltration depths, differentiated degrees, and pathological types.

  Conclusion   A special bound lymph node metastasis was present in the esophageal carcinoma. If the tumor in the upper thoracic esophagus infiltrated the submucosa, then it could bound metastasize down to the abdominal lymph node by the lymphatic capillary net. The majority of the esophageal carcinoma was more than T_1b period when diagnosed. The tumor has infiltrated the submucosa. Thus, early stage, well-differentiated, and upper thoracic esophageal carcinoma does not indicate minimal metastasis of the abdominal lymph node. Routine abdominal lymph node dissection through radical surgery for esophageal carcinoma was necessary.