Endoscopic mucosal resection of the esophagus: band ligation technique

Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is a minimally invasive endoscopic technique used in treating superficial cancers of premalignant lesions in the gastrointestinal tract. An attraction of this technique is that it can be curative with low morbidity, often providing the entire lesion for pathologic evaluation. The band ligation technique of EMR uses the existing technology of variceal band ligation to endoscopically place a band on flat mucosal lesions of the gastrointestinal tract to create a "pseudopolyp" before resection with an electrocautery snare. The band ligating technique and two variant band ligating devices are described.