Endoscopic polypectomy for the removal of polyps of the small intestine.

Since intussusception is a common complication of the Peutz-Jeghers polyps, laparotomy should be recommended to remove them. However, all of them will not be palpable or discernible during laparotomy. Operative endoscopy was employed for removing polyps of the small intestine of a 22-year-old female who was previously diagnosed as Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. Using a newly designed enteroscope with two channels (SIF-2C, Olympus), four large polyps over 1 cm in size were removed from the ileum and jejunum with safety. Endoscopic polypectomy is one of the rapidly advancing fields and widely spread methods in gastrointestinal endoscopy since the introduction of electrosurgical techniques. Although the endoscopic removal of polyps arising from the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, colon and rectum can be performed with ease and safety, polypectomy for the polyps of the small intestine has never been performed because of the technical difficulties to handle the scope in the small intestine. Two channel enteroscope resolved this problem. Therefore, it is emphasized that double channel enteroscope makes the polypectomy in the small intestine possible and the indication of enteroscopy will be more extended.