Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)-poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) thermogel tunnel creation for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery in porcine model.

Background: Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a minimal invasive treatment. However, tissue dissection under endoscopy is still challenging due to the flexibility of endoscopy body and there is still no effective method for establishing a tunnel towards the targeted area. We previously showed that a new kind of thermogel could be submucosallly injected and served as a cushion for endoscopic dissection.