Traction-Assisted Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection of Colonic Lesions: A North American Experience

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Traction-assisted endoscopic submucosal dissection (TA-ESD) is a proposed technique to improve the efficiency of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Multiple studies primarily from Asian centers yielded mixed results in terms of procedure time, en bloc resection rate, and R0 resection rate of TA-ESD in comparison with those of conventional endoscopic submucosal dissection (C-ESD). We performed the first comparison of TA-ESD with C-ESD at a high-volume North American center.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cohort-matched study of all patients who underwent colonic ESD at a single center in the United States by a single operator. The study group were patients who underwent TA-ESD and were matched with a C-ESD case on a 1:1 basis based upon location within the colon, lesion size, and scope stabilization device usage. The baseline characteristics and procedure-related outcomes were compared between the groups.

RESULTS

In total, 138 colonic ESD cases were included (69 TA-ESD and 69 C-ESD). There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the groups. Mean procedure time was 91.0 minutes (SD: 32.5) for TA-ESD and 85.4 minutes (SD: 39.3) for C-ESD (P = 0.36). En bloc resection was achieved in 69 (100%) of the TA-ESDs and 67 (97.1%) of the C-ESDs (P = 0.15). R0 resection was achieved in 52 (75.4%) of the TA-ESDs and 48 (69.6%) of the C-ESDs (P = 0.45).

CONCLUSION

We did not show a significant difference in procedure time, en bloc resection, R0 resection, or adverse events. Further randomized prospective studies that are sufficiently powered and stratified by operator experience level are needed to further elucidate the utility of the technique.