【Abstract】Objective To investigate the effect of ropivacaine infusion anesthesia combined with intravenous dexamethasone on recovery of anesthesia in middle and old aged patients with esophageal cancer. Methods 120 patients underwent elective radical mastectomy in our hospital from January 2012 to December 2015 were randomly divided into group A (control group), group B (Rosivacaine group) and group C (ropivacaine group) and group D (ropivacaine combined with dizocine group). The changes of blood glucose, plasma cortisol (Cor), epinephrine (E) and norepinephrine (NE) were observed and compared. The restlessness during anesthesia, blood pressure and incidence of adverse reactions were observed. Results There were no significant differences in baseline, gender, age, body mass and ASA grading among the four groups(P＞ 0.05). T3 and DBP significantly increased in group A, B and C. HR in group A, B and C significantly increased (P<0.05). DBP of group D was significantly lower than that of the other three groups, and HR of group D was significantly slower than the other three groups (P<0.05). Blood glucose, Cor, E and NE were significantly increased in T1 ~ T4 groups (P<0.05). Compared with group A, the blood glucose, Cor, E and NE concentrations in group B, C and D were significantly lower than those in group A (P<0.05). Compared with B group and C group, the blood glucose, Cor, E and NE concentrations in T1 ~ T4 group were significantly low (P<0.05). The incidence of restlessness and hypertension in group B, C and D was significantly lower than that in group A (P<0.05). The incidence of restlessness and hypertension in group D was significantly lower than that in group B and C (P<0.05). There were no adverse reactions such as respiratory depression, dizziness, headache, sore throat and lethargy. Conclusion The combination of ropivacaine and docetaxel can reduce the occurrence of postoperative stress response in middle and old aged patients with esophageal carcinoma, which is beneficial to the stability of hemodynamics and worthy of clinical application.