Abstract: OBJECTIVE To analyze the related factors for postoperative pulmonary infections in elderly patients with esophageal cancer so as to provide guidance for clinical treatment.METHODS The clinical data of 108 elderly patients with esophageal cancer who were treated from Mar 2010 to Mar 2017 were retrospectively analyzed, all of the patients received surgical procedures, the incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection was statistically analyzed, and the related factors for the postoperative pulmonary infections were observed.RESULTS Of the 108 patients, 40 had postoperative pulmonary infections, with the infection rate 37.04%. The related factors for the postoperative pulmonary infection in the elderly patients with esophageal cancer included the operation duration more than 4 hours, blood loss volume more than 800ml, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, gastroesophageal reflux, postoperative use of PCEA, smoking history and diabetic mellitus, the above factors that had significance were introduced to regression analysis model, and the influencing factors for the postoperative pulmonary infections in the patients with esophageal cancer included the blood loss volume more than 800ml, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, gastroesophageal reflux, postoperative use of PCEA, smoking history and diabetic mellitus.CONCLUSION There are a variety of related factors for the postoperative pulmonary infections in the elderly patients with esophageal cancer. It is necessary to actively improve the basic condition of the patients before surgery and avoid the nerve injury during the surgery so as to reduce the incidence of postoperative pulmonary infections.