Table 1.

Demographic data and clinic pathologic breakdowns of the 6 patients enrolled in this study.

Case no.	Age	Sex	Subsite	Stage	Comorbidities	Main techniques used in esophagectomy	The time fistula occurred	Repair time (months)	Followup time (month)	Result
1	47	Male	MTE	T3N1M0	None	Left thoracotomy, two-field lymphadenectomy, hand-sewn anastomosis, posterior mediastinal route	Severe anastomotic site bleeding 8 h postoperatively, fistula in 2nd postoperative day	3	27	Postoperative radiation performed, survive, normal oral intake
2	68	Male	MTE	T2N0M0	HT, HL	Right thoracotomy, three-field lymphadenectomy, mechanic anastomosis, retrosternal route	2nd POD	3	25	Survive, oral intake, tolerate soft diet
3	56	Male	MTE	T2N0M0	None	Right thoracoscopy, three-field lymphadenectomy, mechanic anastomosis, posterior mediastinal route, endoscopic	5th POD	8	53	Survive, normal oral intake
4	51	Female	UTE	T1N0M0	HL	Left thoracotomy, hand-sewn anastomosis, posterior mediastinal route	3rd POD	2	42	Survive with normal oral intake
5	60	Male	MTE	T2N0M0	HT, DM	Right thoracoscopy, two-field lymphadenectomy, mechanic anastomosis, posterior mediastinal route	2nd POD	3	15	Normal oral intake, died in 15 months after operation due to tumor recurrence
6	49	Female	MTE	T2N0M0	None	Left thoracotomy, two-filed lymphadenectomy, hand-sewn anastomosis, posterior mediastinal route	3rd POD	3	34	Survive, normal oral intake

MTE, middle thoracic esophagus; UTE, upper thoracic esophagus; HT, hypertension; HL, hyperlipemia; DM, diabetes mellitus; PO, postoperative day.