• Yushuang Su, Yan Li, Zhongbin Chen, Hong Gao, Yaxie He, Xiaohua Li, Xiaying Zeng, Wei Lan, and Qin Yang.
• Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2025 Jan 17; 104 (3): e41214e41214.

AbstractEsophageal cancer is a relatively common malignant tumor of the digestive tract. Patients with esophageal cancer show a high incidence of aspiration after surgery, which has a serious impact on their prognosis and rehabilitation. Nevertheless, while existing and past endeavors have concentrated on enhancing the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for esophageal cancer, the necessity of preventing pneumonia caused by postoperative aspiration remains to be adequately addressed. We compiled the presently published literature and offer the latest developments on the causes of postoperative aspiration in patients with esophageal cancer, screening methods, and swallowing assessment tools. Relevant published papers were collected through a search of the China national knowledge infrastructure, Ovid EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and PubMed databases. There are various methods for assessing swallowing function after surgery for esophageal cancer. Clinically, it is necessary to select appropriate assessment tools for the swallowing function. Research indicates that the application of risk prediction models can better assess aspiration in patients after esophageal cancer surgery, bridge gaps in qualitative analysis, and alter the clinical outcomes of patients. Predictive models for dysphagia screening in patients after esophagectomy have significant clinical advantages and exhibit good clinical applicability.Copyright © 2025 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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