Abstract Esophagectomy performed for cancers of esophagus is a challenging surgery. Post radiation fibrosis makes identification of critical structures difficult. The exact relationship between radiation dose and timing of surgery to the intraoperative difficulty remains to be tested. Surgical videos of transthoracic esophagectomy for carcinoma esophagus post neoadjuvant chemoradiation were reviewed and IRFS score was calculated based on three factors (esophageal pleural thickening, periesophageal planes, periadenitis). The IRFS score was then correlated with the radiation dose, interval between radiation completion and surgery, surgery duration, pathological response, major intraoperative complications and short term surgical outcomes. Primary objective: Correlation of radiation dose and timing of surgery with the IRFS. Secondary objectives: To study for correlation between surgery duration, pathological response, major intraoperative complications and short term surgical outcomes with IRFS Surgical videos of 100 patients were analysed. IRFS score which comprises of esophageal pleural thickening, periesophageal planes and periadenitis is a unique tool of assessing surgical difficulty which can be used to correlate radiation doses and interval to surgery. Further studies are required to validate it against post operative outcomes.