Reply to letter: "End-to-end versus end-to-side esophagogastrostomy after esophageal cancer resection: A prospective randomized study"

We thank Haverkamp et al for raising some interesting topics for discussion, and we appreciate the constructive comments on our manuscript. It allows us to reflect on our recommendations that end-to-side (ETS) anastomosis in the neck is associated with a lower anastomotic stricture rate, however, at the cost of increased anastomotic leak rate and a longer in-hospital stay, compared with end-to-end (ETE) anastomosis.

Haverkamp et al call attention to the high incidence of anastomotic leakage in the ETS group, well over rates reported in literature. The authors suggest that this may be because of the learning curve of the ETS technique. Although this might seem a comprehensive explanation, we feel that this may not totally cover our results. [...]