Esophageal stripping with preservation of the vagus nerve.

In the surgical treatment of benign stricture of the esophagus, resection should be considered rather than a simple bypass procedure. For resection, blunt esophagectomy without thoracotomy is sometimes the procedure of choice. To prevent postoperative diarrhea due to truncal vagotomy, a new surgical technique to preserve the celiac and hepatic branches of the vagus nerve has been introduced, in conjunction with blunt esophagectomy.