Objective?To investigate clinical characteristics， diagnosis， and treatment for patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture， and improve clinical diagnostic and treatment level.?Methods?We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 34 patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture who were treated in Subei People’s Hospital from January 1996 to June 2010. There were 28 male patients and 6 female patients with their age ranging from 32 to 80 years old (mean 57.6 years old). Main clinical manifestations included severe chest and abdominal pain after vomiting， fever， dyspnea and shock. The duration between disease onset and establishing diagnosis ranged from 4 hours to 7 days. Thirteen patients received conservative treatment including chest drainage， retrograde gastrointestinal decompression and enteral nutrition through jejunostomy. Twenty one patients received surgical treatment including layered anastomosis of the ruptured esophagus， retrograde gastrointestinal decompression and enteral nutrition through jejunostomy.?Results?All the patients were cured without in-hospital death. The mean hospital stay of the 13 patients who received conservative treatment was 46 days， while that of the 21 patients who received surgical treatment was 17 days. All the ruptured esophagus were one-stage healed. All the 34 patients were followed up from l to 8 years， including 11 patients in the conservative treatment group and 19 patients in the surgical treatment group， but 4 patients was lost during follow-up. All the patients had a normal diet without symptoms of esophageal stricture， reflux esophagitis or chronic thoracic empyema.?Conclusion Spontaneous esophageal rupture is a thoracic emergency with a high misdiagnosis rate and mortality．Early diagnosis， early surgical repair of ruptured esophagus and satisfactory chest drainage play a vital role in the treatment for patients with spontaneous rupture of esophagus.