From 1983 to 1989, 96 oesophagectomies (30% of all oesophagectomies performed during this period) were performed without thoracotomy and then analyzed retrospectively. Most were performed due to contraindications including age (17%), respiratory disease (47%), heart disease (37%) or for superficial oesophageal lesions (35% were stage T1). Operative mortality was 3.1%. Fistulization of the anastomosis occurred in 7.5% of the cases. Actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 29% and was independent of age but dependent on localization, the size of the tumour, presence of parietal invasion and TNM classification. However, patient selection introduced bias and a prospective randomized study comparing oesophagectomy without thoracotomy and oesophagectomy via right thoracotomy and midline incision demonstrated that mortality and complications were similar with the two techniques. Long term survival was not dependent on access route, but on the stage of the disease.