ObjectiveTo compare clinical outcomes between triluminal-tube feeding combined with tubular stomach and traditional esophagectomy for the treatment of esophageal carcinoma (EC)in elderly patients. MethodsA total of 196 elderly patients (>60 years)with EC who received esophagectomy in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Mianyang Central Hospital from January 2007 to January 2013 were enrolled in this study. According to different surgical methods, all the patients were divided into triluminal-tube feeding combined with tubular stomach group (group A)and traditional esophagectomy group (group B). There were 96 patients including 51 males and 45 females in group A with their age of 60-81 (66.21±7.32)years, and 100 patients including 54 males and 46 females in group B with their age of 60-82 (65.43±6.37)years. Clinical indexes were compared between the 2 groups. ResultsRadical esophagectomy was successfully performed for all the patients. There was no statistical difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative incidence of chylothorax, recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, anastomotic leakage, anastomotic stricture or mortality between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). Time to first passage of flatus and postoperative length of hospital stay of group A were significantly shorter than those of group B, and the incidences of postoperative arrhythmias, pulmonary complications and thoracic-stomach syndrome of group A were significantly lower than those of group B (P < 0.05). ConclusionTriluminal-tube feeding combined with tubular stomach can significantly reduce postoperative morbidity, shorten hospital stay and improve quality of life of elderly patients undergoing esophagectomy.