Because of poor survival rates of patients with pharyngoesophageal malignancies, the optimal reconstructive procedure would have one stage, a low complication rate, and a brief hospitalization and would allow an adequate resection of the neoplasm with an acceptable operative mortality. The need for obligate stoma formation should be eliminated. Not only should airway patency be preserved and deglutition be restored early, but these functions would hopefully be retained as long as possible with recurrent disease. Donor tissue should be from beyond the field of preoperative radiotherapy and relatively resistant to harm from postoperative irradiation. Reconstruction would be facilitated by mucosa-bearing tissue and as little violation of body cavities as possible.

Multiple other methods of pharyngoesophageal reconstruction exist, each having its own merits. Disadvantages of these techniques variably include the need for multiple stages and prolonged recuperation, limitations by extent of neck dissection or perioperative radiation, fistula formation, pharyngostomes, stricture formation, multiple gastrointestinal suture lines, violation of multiple body cavities, and the requirement of advanced or highly specialized surgical techniques.