ABSTRACT
Surgical anatomy The oesophagus is a muscular tube, approximately 25 cm long, mainly occupying the posterior mediastinum and extending from the upper oesophageal sphincter (the cricopharyngeus muscle) in the neck to the junction with the cardia of the stomach. The musculature of the upper oesophagus, including the upper sphincter, is striated. This is followed by a transitional zone of both striated and smooth muscle with the proportion of the latter progressively increasing so that, in the lower half of the oesophagus, there is only smooth muscle. It is lined throughout with squamous epithelium. The parasympathetic nerve supply is mediated by branches of the vagus nerve that has synaptic connections to the myenteric (Auerbach’s) plexus. Meissner’s submucosal plexus is sparse in the oesophagus.
