[History of surgical esophageal replacement]

At the beginning of the twentieth century, surgeons often attempted operative esophagus replacement. At first, these operations had a palliative intent to help the patients eat. Setbacks because of lack of experience in thorax surgery, infection problems and technical difficulties led to different approaches to a solution. The first successes occurred when a stomach tube was formed with a abdominocollar high course and collar anastomosis. The history of surgical replacement of the esophagus is given in detail to the present day and the development is discussed.