Many patients with esophageal cancer have coughing symptoms after surgery and begin to doubt the effectiveness of the surgery. If it is not the cause of surgery, why would esophageal cancer patients have cough after surgery? If coughing after surgery, how to take care of it? Reasons for coughing after esophageal cancer surgery: 1. Pleural irritation caused by a small amount of postoperative pleural effusion. The above two reasons can be solved by strengthening deep breathing exercises (deep inhalation and slow exhalation) and active coughing and sputum removal exercises. 2, Failure to cough effectively after surgery, resulting in local lung non-rising, manifesting as multiple baroclinic shadows or even patchy shadows in both lungs. 3, stimulation of trachea and bronchus by thoracic stomach. This can only be relieved by the passage of time after surgery and slow adaptation. 4, gastroesophageal reflux, especially in patients receiving a cervical anastomosis. This cause is most easily ignored by patients and even doctors. It is wise to eat less and more often in the first few months after surgery, “8 minutes full” per meal, intermittent oral morpholine, supplemented with omeprazole if necessary, to reduce gastroesophageal reflux; in addition, do not lie down immediately after eating, you should make it a habit to move around for half an hour after meals, and do not eat one hour before bedtime. Food, especially liquid food; a bag of milk before bedtime is a very bad dietary habit for patients with esophageal cancer who receive neck anastomosis. Then how to let care after esophageal cancer surgery? 1.Keep the gastrointestinal decompression tube unobstructed A small amount of blood draining out 24-48h after surgery should be regarded as normal; if a large amount of blood is drained out, it should be reported to the doctor immediately for treatment. The gastrointestinal decompression tube should be kept for 3 to 5 days to reduce anastomotic tension for healing. 2.Closely observe the flow and nature of chest drainage If abnormal bleeding, turbid fluid, food residue or celiac fluid is found in the chest drainage, it indicates active bleeding, esophageal anastomotic fistula or celiac disease in the chest cavity, and corresponding measures should be taken to clarify the diagnosis and deal with it. If there is no abnormality, the drainage tube should be removed 1 to 3 days after surgery. 3.Strict control of diet The esophagus lacks plasma membrane layer, so the anastomosis is slow to heal, and should be strictly fasted and water fasted after surgery. During the fasting period, intravenous rehydration should be performed daily. If a duodenal drip tube is placed, after the recovery of intestinal peristalsis on the 2nd postoperative day, nutrition solution can be dripped through the tube to reduce the amount of infusion. On the 5th postoperative day, if there is no special change in the condition, milk can be given orally, 60ml each time, every 2 hr, and the same amount of boiled water can be given during the interval, if there is no adverse reaction, the amount can be increased day by day. After the surgery, the diet should be changed to semi-liquid without residue on the 10th to 12th day, but attention should be paid to prevent eating too fast and too much. 4. Observe the symptoms of anastomotic fistula The clinical manifestations of anastomotic fistula are high fever, rapid pulse, respiratory distress, severe chest pain and intolerable; low breath sounds on the affected side, turbid percussion, elevated white blood cells and even shock. Treatment principles: pleural drainage to promote lung expansion; selection of effective antibacterial agents to combat infection; and adequate nutrition and calories. At present, complete enterogastric nutrition (TEN) is mostly used to treat the patient by gastrostomy gavage, and the effect is accurate and satisfactory.