Objective To evaluate the effect and pathological characters for patients with early esophageal carcinoma and intraepithelial neoplasia after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Methods 69 patients from January 2013 to January 2016 were treated with ESD at the early stage of esophageal carcinoma and intraepithelial neoplasia. The clinical features and the size of the lesions of all the patients were collected. Then analyzed postoperative complications and pathological characteristics. Results Among 69 cases, 16 were early esophageal cancer, 38 were high-grade esophageal neoplasia and 35 were low-grade esophageal neoplasia. The whole piece resection rate was 100.00 % (69/69), complete resection rate and curative resection rate was 95.65 % (66/69), respectively. The largest removal diameter is 7.0 cm. Biopsy accuracy was 69.57 % (48/69). Compared with biopsy, diagnostic accuracy with ESD specimens is higher. Conclusion The early esophageal carcinoma and intraepithelial neoplasia can be treated with ESD. ESD can resect lesions primarily, provide complete specimen for further pathological assessment and improve diagnostic accuracy.