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Outcomes of Zenker's peroral endoscopic myotomy (Z-POEM) for treatment of Zenker's diverticulum at our tertiary care center: a single-institution retrospective cohort study

  • 0Division of Gastrointestinal and Oncologic Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. keconomopoulos@mgh.harvard.edu.
Surgical Endoscopy +

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August 20, 2025

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August 20, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Zenker

Area Of Science

  • Gastroenterology
  • Minimally Invasive Surgery

Background

  • Zenker's diverticulum (ZD) treatment has advanced with endoscopic techniques.
  • Zen-peroral endoscopic myotomy (Z-POEM) demonstrates high safety and efficacy for ZD.

Purpose Of The Study

  • To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Z-POEM in treating Zenker's diverticulum.
  • To assess clinical and technical outcomes, reintervention rates, and complications associated with Z-POEM.

Main Methods

  • Single-institution retrospective study (2020-2024) of 32 patients undergoing Z-POEM for ZD.
  • Primary outcome: clinical success (dysphagia score ≤1 without reintervention at 6 months).
  • Secondary outcomes: technical success, reintervention rate, and complications.

Main Results

  • 100% technical success and 96.9% clinical success in 32 patients.
  • Significant improvement in dysphagia (1.5 to 0.09) and regurgitation (2.3 to 0.13) scores (p<0.001).
  • 18.8% of patients required reintervention, primarily after 17 months.

Conclusions

  • Z-POEM is a safe and effective treatment for Zenker's diverticulum.
  • While durable, approximately 1 in 5 patients may require reoperation in the short term.
  • Z-POEM offers significant symptom improvement for patients with Zenker's diverticulum.

Keywords:

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