Successful complete cure en-bloc resection of large nonpedunculated colonic polyps by endoscopic submucosal...

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has emerged as one of the techniques to successfully resect large colonic polyps en bloc. Complete resection prevents the patient from going through transabdominal colonic resection. We sought to evaluate the proportion of successful en-bloc and complete cure en-bloc resection of large colonic polyps by ESD.

Studies that use ESD technique to resect large colonic polyps were selected. Successful en-bloc resection was defined as resection of the polyp in one piece. Successful complete cure en-bloc resection was defined as one piece with histologic disease-free-margin polyp resection. Articles were searched in Medline, PubMed, and Cochrane control trial registry. Pooled proportions were calculated by both fixed and random-effects model.

The initial search identified 2,120 reference articles; 389 relevant articles were selected and reviewed. Data were extracted from 14 studies (n = 1,314) that met the inclusion criteria. The mean +/- standard error size of the polyps was 30.65 +/- 2.88 mm. Pooled proportion of en-bloc resection by the random-effects model was 84.91% (95% confidence interval, 77.82-90.82) and complete cure en-bloc resection was 75.39% (95% confidence interval, 66.69-82.21). The fixed-effects model was not used because of the heterogeneity of studies.

ESD should be considered the best minimally invasive endoscopic technique in the treatment of large (>2 cm) sessile and flat polyps because it allows full pathological evaluation and cure in most patients. ESD offers an important alternative to surgery in the therapy of large sessile and flat polyps.