Water pressure method for duodenal endoscopic submucosal dissection (with video)

Duodenal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is considered technically challenging and has a high risk of adverse events. However, we recently made some progress with the ESD technique and device by introducing 2 features: a water pressure (WP) method and a second-generation ESD knife (DualKnife) with a water jet function (DualKnife J). The present study aimed to assess whether these changes improved the clinical outcomes of duodenal ESD.

This was a retrospective observational study. Among all patients who underwent ESD for superficial duodenal epithelial tumors from June 2010 to December 2018, patients in whom a single expert performed the procedure were included in this study. Various factors, including the use of the WP method and ESD devices (DualKnife or DualKnife J) and the treatment phase (early, mid, and late), were analyzed to determine whether they were associated with intraprocedural perforation and procedure time. Treatment phase was assigned by dividing the study population equally into 3 subgroups according to the treatment phase.

The procedure time was significantly shorter, and the proportion of patients with intraprocedural perforations was the lowest in the late phase. Multivariate analysis of the use of the WP method revealed that it significantly decreased the intraprocedural perforation rate (odds ratio, 0.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.16-0.96), and analysis of the use of both the WP method (β coefficient, -0.40; P < .01) and the DualKnife J (β coefficient, -0.10; P = .032) revealed they were independently and negatively correlated with procedure time.

The present study reveals that the WP method significantly reduced the intraprocedural perforation rate and that both the WP method and the DualKnife J significantly shortened procedure times for duodenal ESD.