Efficacy of early clip-with-line method for colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection

Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) remains demanding due to technical difficulties and high risk of perforation. Most of the reported traction methods are initiated after creating a mucosal flap, which is time consuming. To obtain a good visualization at the mucosal incision stage, we developed the early clip-with-line (ECL) method. This method was started immediately after injection of sodium hyaluronate solution into the submucosal layer. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy and the safety of the ECL method for colorectal ESD.

We retrospectively analyzed all cases of colorectal ESDs (41 cases in total) performed from January 2017 to February 2019 in our institution. From January 2017 to August 2018, 27 of these cases were performed using conventional (non-ECL) ESDs, while from September 2018 onwards, the remaining 14 cases were performed using the ECL method. Retrospective comparison between the ECL group and the non-ECL group was conducted in terms of clinical characteristics, treatment outcomes, and adverse events.

There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between two groups. Procedure time (median [range]) was significantly shorter in the ECL group than in the non-ECL group (66 [29-131] min vs 90 [30-410] min; P = 0.03). As for adverse events, no case of perforation occurred in the ECL group, whereas perforation was observed in 7.4% (2/27) cases in the non-ECL group (no significant difference).

Early clip-with-line method for colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection reduced procedure time.