Early clinical experience with a new flexible endoscopic suturing method for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery and intraluminal endosurgery (with videos)

BACKGROUND: To perform advanced endoscopic treatments, one has to be able to close defects and perforations. Many devices have been constructed to perform endoscopic suturing, but all are rather complicated, expensive, and difficult to use. OBJECTIVE: To develop and use a new simple stitching technique at intraluminal flexible endoscopy. DESIGN: A flexible 19-gauge needle, loaded with a metal tag attached to a 3-0 polypropylene thread is passed down the working channel of a conventional endoscope. Two tags are placed into the stomach or the intestinal wall, 1 on each side of the defect. The threads are then locked together and cut. Precise stitch positioning is possible. Multiple stitches can be placed quickly, without removal of the endoscope. SETTING: Surgical department at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in G?teborg, Sweden. PATIENTS: Three patients in whom other conventional treatments had failed. INTERVENTIONS: Initially, survival studies in pigs were performed, and full-thickness resections, pyloroplasty, and gastrojejunostomies could be completed. The technique was subsequently used in patients when surgery was not feasible and when other endoscopic interventions had failed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Clinical evaluation; successful sealing of defects, leaks, or a bleeding vessel. RESULTS: We present 3 human cases and describe endoluminal closure of a perforated duodenal ulcer, a leaking gastroenteroanastomosis after gastroplasty, and successful treatment of upper-GI bleeding by oversewing a bleeding vessel. CONCLUSIONS: This stitching technique is easy to use and makes endoscopic suturing possible for closure of perforations and tissue approximation almost anywhere in the GI tract that can be reached by a flexible endoscope.     

Evaluation of a novel access and closure device for NOTES applications: a transcolonic survival study in the porcine model (with video)

BACKGROUND: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a novel, potentially less invasive alternative to laparoscopic surgery. However, the problems of transluminal access and closure represent significant obstacles to its successful introduction in humans. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a novel device designed for transluminal access and closure. DESIGN: Experimental endoscopic study of transcolonic incision and closure with use of a prototype device in a survival porcine model. SUBJECTS: Four adult female Yorkshire pigs were used in the study. INTERVENTIONS: While under general anesthesia, the animals were prepped with multiple tap water enemas followed by instillation of an antibiotic suspension and povidone-iodine lavage. At a distance of 15 to 20 cm from the anus, the prototype device deployed a circumscribing purse-string suture around the planned incision site and subsequently used a blade mechanism to create a 2.5-cm linear incision. The peritoneum was then accessed with a standard double-channel enodoscope. The transcolonic incision was then closed by cinching and securing the purse-string suture with a titanium knot by use of a separate hand-activated suture-locking device. All animals were allowed to eat immediately after recovering from general anesthesia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The animals were monitored daily for signs of peritonitis and sepsis and were electively killed on day 14. The peritoneal cavity was examined for peritonitis, and the colonic incision site was examined for wound dehiscence, pericolic abscess formation, and gross adhesions. Tissue samples from both incisional and random peritoneal sites were obtained for histologic examination. RESULTS: Transcolonic incision and closure were successful in all 4 animals. The device performed in a rapid and reproducible fashion. All animals recovered without septic complications. At necropsy, there was no evidence of peritonitis, abscesses, or wound dehiscence. Salpingocolonic and colovesicular adhesions were noted in 3 of 4 animals. Histologic examination revealed microabscesses at the incision site in all animals. CONCLUSIONS: The prototype incision and closure device represents a promising solution to the problems of transluminal access for NOTES. The presence of incision-related adhesions and microabscesses signal the need for further refinement in aseptic technique.     

NOTES瘘口闭合技术的研究及应用

正在兴起的经自然腔道内镜外科(NOTES)是一门基于微创新理念、多学科交叉的内镜治疗新技术。过去数年来尽管人们在NOTES领域进行了大量努力和探索,但似乎NOTES由动物实验转向大规模临床应用仍有很长的路要走,且有很多技术问题需要解决。在所有NOTES未解决的技术难题中,可靠的内脏瘘口闭合技术必须优先解决。本文,我们将对NOTES瘘口闭合方面的努力和进展进行回顾和述评。     

Self-approximating transluminal access technique for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery: a porcine survival study (with video)

BACKGROUND: The ability to access the abdominal cavity though a direct (modified-PEG type) gastric incision to perform natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) has been demonstrated in the literature. However, the optimal technique to access the abdomen remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a transgastric approach to the abdominal cavity through an extended submucosal tunnel. DESIGN: Animal feasibility study. INTERVENTIONS: Transgastric endoscopic peritoneoscopy was performed in 7 anesthetized swine, including 2 acute and 5 survival animals. After the creation of a 10-cm to 12-cm tunnel in the gastric submucosal plane, the peritoneal cavity was accessed by needle-knife puncture through the gastric wall near the greater curvature. The peritoneal cavity was examined before the gastric mucosal incision was closed with endoclips. Survival animals were euthanized two weeks after the procedure, and a necropsy was performed. RESULTS: The abdominal cavity was successfully entered without complication in all 7 animals. The mucosal incisions were able to be closed by endoscopy. In the survival experiments, all animals recovered and gained weight. Two animals experienced clinically unapparent infectious complications. LIMITATIONS: Small sample size. CONCLUSIONS: A peroral transgastric approach to the abdominal cavity through an extended submucosal tunnel is technically feasible and allows safe abdominal access and reliable closure with currently available technology. It has potential benefits as an alternative to direct transgastric access for NOTES procedures.     

Endoscopic gastrojejunostomy with a natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery technique

AIM: To determine the technical feasibility and safety of an endoscopic gastrojejunostomy with a pure natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) technique using a T-anchoring device in a porcine survival model. METHODS: An endoscopic gastrojejunostomy with a pure NOTES technique using a T-anchoring device was performed on 10 healthy female minipigs weighing approximately 40 kg each under general anesthesia. All procedures were performed with a transgastric approach using a 2-channel therapeutic endoscope. RESULTS: The transgastric gastrojejunostomy was technically successful in all cases. A total of four to sixstitched pairs of a T-anchoring device were used to secure the anastomosis. The median time required to enter the peritoneal cavity and pull the small bowel into the stomach was 34 min (range: 19-41 min); the median time required to suture the anastomosis was 67 min (range: 44-78 min). An obstruction of the efferent limb occurred in one case, and a rupture of the anastomosis site occurred in another case. As a result, the functional success rate was 80% (8/10). Small bowel adhesion to the stomach and liver occurred in one case, but the anastomosis was intact without leakage or obstruction. CONCLUSION: A transgastric gastrojejunostomy with a T-anchoring device may be safe and technically feasible. A T-anchoring device may provide a simple and effective endoscopic suturing method.