The results of emergency oesophageal transection are described. The overall operative mortality‐rate was 45 per cent. There were no operative deaths in the patients with extrahepatic obstruction and normal liver function. The operative mortality‐rate for the patients with cirrhosis was 53 per cent, or a salvage rate of 47 per cent if one considers that this is a highly selected group of patients (albeit negatively)–patients with impaired liver function who had not responded to intensive medical treatment and who were still bleeding at the time of surgery.