Endoscopic Resection of Duodenal Carcinoid Tumors: A Single-Center Comparison Between Simple Polypectomy and...

Endoscopic resection is preferred for duodenal carcinoids less than 20 mm; however, the efficacy of simple polypectomy has not been compared with advanced endoscopic resection techniques.

We performed a retrospective review of 33 patients who underwent endoscopic duodenal carcinoid resection (10 simple, 23 endoscopic mucosal resection) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania between January 1, 2006, and June 15, 2017. The primary outcomes were resection margin positivity and local tumor recurrence.

There were no significant differences in demographics or tumor functionality. Lesions managed with simple polypectomy had smaller median gross specimen size (6.0 mm vs 8.0 mm, P = 0.043). There was no significant difference in pathology resection margins between simple polypectomy and endoscopic mucosal resection (86% vs 68% positive, P = 0.64). Local recurrence on surveillance endoscopy was also similar (14.3% vs 17.7%, respectively; P = 1.000), with median time to recurrence 2.3 months (interquartile range, 1.2-5.4 months). The median follow-up time in patients without local recurrence was 21.4 months (interquartile range, 7.1-39.6 months).

Simple polypectomy may be adequate treatment of small duodenal carcinoids, although further studies are needed for validation and to define the upper limits of tumor size that can be managed with this technique.