Abstract: Comparison of Intrathoracic Gastric Emptying before and after Esophagectomy forEsophageal CancerMing YAN1, Yin LI1, Jianjun QIN1, Hui YANG2,Wenliang LI2,Wenqun XING1Correspondence to: Yin LI, E-mail: ymym96@163.com1Department of Thoracic Surgery, He'nan Provincial Tumor Hospital, Zhengzhou 450008, China2Department of Nuclear Medicine, He'nan Provinicial Tumor Hospital, Zhengzhou 450008, ChinaAbstract Objective: To study the physiological mechanisms of intrathoracic gastric emptying after esophagectomy. Methods:Between March 2008 and June 2009, the gastric emptying ( GE ) of liquid food was evaluated in 38 patients ( 27 males and 11 fe-males ) preoperatively and at 24h after esophagectomy and cervical esophagogastrostomy for esophageal cancer. Studies were per-formed in seated body position by radioisotope. The gastric emptying time 1/2 ( GET 1/2 ) was recorded and analyzed. Results: Therewas no gastric retention in all subjects. After operation, GE was significantly faster in 30 patiens ( 78.9% ) ( P < 0.05 ). Before esopha-gectomy, male patients had significantly faster GE than female patients ( P < 0.05 ), but GE was not significantly different betweenmale patients and female patients after esophagectomy ( P > 0.05 ). Conclusion: Intrathoracic gastric emptying for liquid food afteresophagectomy is significantly faster than that before operation in the upright position because of the force of gravity. It seems that in-trathoracic stomach acts as a nonfunctioning tract.Keywords Esophageal neoplasm; Surgery; Intrathoracic stomach; Gastric emptying