The data of 3,714 patients with thoracic esophageal carcinoma from Apr, 1979 to Dec. 1994 were analysed in purpose to estimate the value of cervical esophagogastrotomy (cervical reconstruction) in the treatment of thoracic esophageal carcinoma. The results show that while cervical esophagogastrotomy was rarely used in the early years (only 8.8% of the treated cases), it has been recently used as the routine standard procedure in our hospital (94.1%). This technic is of great importance and useful for the radical removal of tumor, the eradication of cervical and mediastinal lymph nodes, the reduction of post-operative complications and surgical mortality, as well as to improve the life quality of the patient. The operation indications, approach and the surgical efficacy are also discussed in the article.