Efficacy of Novel Ultrathin Single-Balloon Enteroscopy for Crohn’s Disease:A Propensity Score-Matched Study

Background/Aims@#The evaluation of small bowel lesions of Crohn’s disease (CD) using balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE) is crucial because mucosal healing is associated with a good prognosis. However, BAE procedures are invasive, requiring sedation or analgesia to reduce the patient’s pain.This study evaluated the clinical usefulness of a novel ul-trathin single-balloon enteroscopy (SBE) procedure for CD. @*Methods@#This single-center retrospective study included 102 CD patients who underwent trans-anal SBE between Janu-ary 2012 and May 2018. Of these patients, 82 underwent enteroscopy using conventional SBE, while 20 underwent ultrathin SBE. Patients were analyzed using propensity score matching, with 20 patients per group. The median duration of the examination, terminal ileum intubation rate, median cecum intubation time, median insertion depth, adverse events, and sedated dose in each group were compared. @*Results@#Before propensity score matching, the conventional SBE group had a larger number of surgical history patients than the ultrathin SBE group (p=0.05). After matching, the two groups did not significantly differ clinically. There were no significant differences in the mean duration of the examina-tion, cecum intubation time, or terminal ileal intubation rate between ultrathin SBE and conventional SBE. The mean in-sertion depth of ultrathin SBE tended to be deeper than that of conventional SBE (p=0.09). The use of ultrathin SBE also reduced the sedative dose during needed for enteroscopy compared with conventional SBE (p=0.005). @*Conclusions@#Novel ultrathin SBE may be less painful for CD patients than conventional SBE.

Long-Term Outcomes of Using Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection to Treat Early Gastric Cancer

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is becoming the main procedure for the resection of early gastric cancer (EGC). The absolute indications for treating EGC with endoscopic resection were established by the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association and have been generally accepted. However, the absolute indications for treating EGC are rather strict, and expanded indications have been developed. Many studies have reported favorable long-term outcomes for patients who received curative resection for the expanded indication. ESD preserves the stomach, thereby improving patients’ quality of life compared to surgery; however, a generally higher incidence of metachronous gastric cancer has been reported after ESD for EGC. Therefore, clinicians must pay careful attention during surveillance endoscopy, even after a curative ESD.

The "Two-Sword Fencing" Technique in Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection

No abstract available.

Ampullary Adenoma Treated by Endoscopic Double-Snare Retracting Papillectomy

We report herein improved methods for the safe and successful completion of endoscopic papillectomy (EP). Between January 2008 and November 2011, 12 patients underwent double-snare retracting papillectomy for the treatment of lesions of the major duodenal papilla. The main outcomes were en bloc resection rates, pathological findings, and adverse events. All of the patients (mean age, 60.1 years; range, 38 to 80 years) were diagnosed with ampullary adenoma by endoscopic forceps biopsies prior to endoscopic snare papillectomy. En bloc resection by double-snare retracting papillectomy was successfully performed for all lesions (median size, 12.3 mm), comprising six tubular adenomas, one tubulovillous adenoma, three cases of epithelial atypia, one hamartomatous polyp, and one case of duodenitis with regenerative change. Significant hemorrhage and pancreatitis were observed in one case after EP. Adenoma recurrence occurred in three patients during follow-up (median, 28.5 months) at a mean interval of 2 months postoperatively (range, 1 to 3 months). No serious adverse events were observed. Double-snare retracting papillectomy is effective and feasible for treating lesions of the major duodenal papilla. Further treatment experience, including a single-arm phase II study, needs to be accumulated before conducting a randomized controlled study.

The Efficacy of an Endoscopic Grasp-and-Traction Device for Gastric Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: An Ex Vivo Comparative Study (with Video)

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate whether the EndoLifter (Olympus), a counter-traction device facilitating submucosal dissection, can accelerate endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). METHODS: Two endoscopists (novice/expert in ESD) performed 64 ESDs (artificial 3-cm lesions) in 16 ex vivo pig stomachs: per stomach, two at the posterior wall (forward approach) and two at the lesser curvature (retroflex approach). Per approach, one lesion was dissected with (EL+) and one without (EL-) the EndoLifter. The submucosal dissection time (SDT), corrected for specimen size, and the influence of ESD experience on EndoLifter usefulness were assessed. RESULTS: En bloc resection rate was 98.4%. In the forward approach, the median SDT was shorter with the EndoLifter (0.56 min/cm2 vs. 0.91 min/cm2), although not significantly (p=0.09). The ESD-experienced endoscopist benefitted more from the EndoLifter (0.45 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 0.68 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.07) than the ESD-inexperienced endoscopist (0.77 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 1.01 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.48). In the retroflex approach, the median SDTs were 1.06 (EL+) and 0.48 (EL-) min/cm2 (p=0.16). The EndoLifter did not shorten the SDT for the ESD-experienced endoscopist (0.68 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 0.68 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.78), whereas the ESD-inexperienced endoscopist seemed hindered (1.65 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 0.38 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In gastric ESD, the EndoLifter, in trend, shortens SDTs in the forward, but not in the retroflex approach. Given the low numbers in this study, a type II error cannot be excluded.

The Efficacy of an Endoscopic Grasp-and-Traction Device for Gastric Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection: An Ex Vivo Comparative Study (with Video)

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate whether the EndoLifter (Olympus), a counter-traction device facilitating submucosal dissection, can accelerate endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). METHODS: Two endoscopists (novice/expert in ESD) performed 64 ESDs (artificial 3-cm lesions) in 16 ex vivo pig stomachs: per stomach, two at the posterior wall (forward approach) and two at the lesser curvature (retroflex approach). Per approach, one lesion was dissected with (EL+) and one without (EL-) the EndoLifter. The submucosal dissection time (SDT), corrected for specimen size, and the influence of ESD experience on EndoLifter usefulness were assessed. RESULTS: En bloc resection rate was 98.4%. In the forward approach, the median SDT was shorter with the EndoLifter (0.56 min/cm2 vs. 0.91 min/cm2), although not significantly (p=0.09). The ESD-experienced endoscopist benefitted more from the EndoLifter (0.45 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 0.68 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.07) than the ESD-inexperienced endoscopist (0.77 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 1.01 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.48). In the retroflex approach, the median SDTs were 1.06 (EL+) and 0.48 (EL-) min/cm2 (p=0.16). The EndoLifter did not shorten the SDT for the ESD-experienced endoscopist (0.68 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 0.68 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.78), whereas the ESD-inexperienced endoscopist seemed hindered (1.65 [EL+] min/cm2 vs. 0.38 [EL-] min/cm2, p=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In gastric ESD, the EndoLifter, in trend, shortens SDTs in the forward, but not in the retroflex approach. Given the low numbers in this study, a type II error cannot be excluded.

Submucosal Injection of Normal Saline can Prevent Unexpected Deep Thermal Injury of Argon Plasma Coagulation in the in vivo Porcine Stomach

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There have been several reports of thermal injury induced by argon plasma coagulation (APC) in animal models, but no follow-up studies have revealed the actual thermal injury. METHODS: APC was performed on the stomachs of two living minipigs with and without prior submucosal injection of normal saline. The power and argon gas flow were set to 60 watts and 2 L/min, respectively, and pulse durations of 5, 10, and 20 seconds were used. One of the minipigs was killed immediately thereafter and the other was killed 1 week later. RESULTS: The minipig killed immediately showed only subtle differences between noninjected and injected injuries under all the conditions, and the usefulness of prior submucosal injection was not obvious. However, the minipig killed 1 week later had a deep ulcer extending to the deeper muscle layer at the noninjected site where APC had been applied for 20 seconds, whereas tissue injury of the injected site was limited to the submucosal layer. CONCLUSIONS: Unexpected tissue damage can occur even using a short-duration APC. Prior submucosal injection for APC might be a safer alternative technique, especially in a thinner and narrower gut wall.