Sarcopenia is defined as progressive, generalized muscle loss associated with aging or disease. In recent years, sarcopenia has been widely recognized as one of the important factors in predicting adverse outcomes after surgery for gastrointestinal tumors. Elderly esophageal cancer surgery patients often have sarcopenia due to malnutrition, and postoperative adverse events are frequent. This article describes the clinical definition, diagnosis, and evaluation measures of sarcopenia, as well as the postoperative complications and postoperative short-term and long-term survival outcomes of elderly esophageal cancer patients undergoing surgical treatment.