BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Piece-meal endoscopic resection of early neoplastic lesions larger than 15-20 mm is a laborious procedure with the cap technique. Multiband mucosectomy is a new technique using a modified variceal band ligator. Submucosal lifting and prelooping of the snare in the cap is not necessary and multiple resections can be performed with a single snare. We prospectively evaluated the feasibility of multiband mucosectomy for widespread endoscopic resection in patients with a Barrett's esophagus with early neoplasia and compared results retrospectively with prospectively registered endoscopic cap resection procedures.

RESULTS

Eighty multiband mucosectomy procedures were performed in 40 patients and 86 endoscopic cap resection procedures in 53 patients. Median duration of the multiband mucosectomy procedures was 37 vs. 50 min for endoscopic cap resection procedures (P=0.06); median duration per resection was 6 vs. 12 min, respectively (P<0.001). Mean diameter of the specimens was 17 vs. 21 mm (P<0.001). One perforation in the endoscopic cap resection group was successfully treated conservatively. Mild bleeding occurred in 6% of multiband mucosectomy and 20% of endoscopic cap resection procedures (P=0.012). Technical difficulties during multiband mucosectomy procedures included a decreased visibility owing to the black bands and the releasing wires.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiband mucosectomy allows safe and easy widespread piece-meal resections in Barrett's esophagus. Time and costs appear to be saved compared with the cap technique, and multiband mucosectomy appears to cause less bleeding during the endoscopic resection procedure. Multiband mucosectomy, however, results in smaller specimens and is, therefore, most suited for en-bloc resection of lesions smaller than 10 mm or for widespread resection of flat mucosa.