Location and structure of the oesophagus – the oesophagus (gullet) lies in the midline of the chest.
The oesophagus– in the neck region – lies behind the windpipe, to the left of the descending aorta. From here, going downwards, it runs forwards and slightly to the left. It lies closely against both lobes of the thyroid gland and the common carotid arteries (arteria carotis communis).
The oesophagus– in the chest – lies behind and slightly to the left of the windpipe. At the level where the windpipe divides (bifurcatio tracheae), the aorta, which until then runs in front, turns to the left and backwards, briefly pressing into the left edge of the oesophagus.
The oesophagus’s three sections can be distinguished: the cervical (upper), the middle and the lower section. The middle third is the longest and the lower section the shortest.
From the inside outwards, its structure consists of a stratified non-keratinised squamous epithelium, the muscle layer of the lining, the connective tissue layer beneath the lining, the outer muscle layer (made up of an inner circular and an outer longitudinal layer), and the connective tissue layer covering the muscle layer.
Its arterial and venous network is complex, and its lymphatic supply is abundant. It is innervated by the vagus nerve and the sympathetic nervous system.
