The usefulness of traction-assisted endoscopic papillectomy for ampullary early tumors(with video).

Endoscopic papillectomy(EP) is a minimally invasive treatment for early ampullary tumors. However, the optimal method is unclear. The aim of this study is to explore the efficacy and safety of traction-assisted EP treatments for ampullary early tumors. We retrospective analyzed the patients with ampullary adenoma or early adenocarcinoma underwent endoscopic papillectomy between January 2010 and August 2023, including patient characteristics, lesion size, papilla type, pathological diagnosis and lesion surrounding conditions, en-bloc resection rate, complete resection rate, procedure time, complications, recurrences. During the study period, a total of 106 patients with ampullary adenoma or early adenocarcinoma underwent EP. The number of patients in traction group (clip combined with dental floss traction, CDT-EP) and non-traction group (hot snare papillectomy, HSP or endoscopic mucosal resection, EMR) were 45 and 61 respectively. The traction group has a higher en-bloc resection rate and complete resection rate than the non-traction group (92.86% 68.85%,  = 0.003; 90.48% 60.66%,  = 0.001), and the procedure time is slightly shorter[(1.57 ± 1.93)min (1.98 ± 1.76)min,  = 0.039]. The complications and recurrence in the traction group were lower than those in the non-traction group (7.14% 19.72%,  = 0.076; 7.14% 11.78%,  = 0.466), and all complications were successfully treated by endoscopy or conservative medical treatment. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of patient characteristics, papilla type, pathological diagnosis and lesion surrounding conditions ( > 0.050), but there were differences in lesion size[(13 ± 1.09)mm (11 ± 1.65)mm,  = 0.002]. The recurrence rate of the traction group is lower than that of the non-traction group, but the difference is not significant(7.14% 13.11%,  = 0.335), and the non-traction group mainly has early recurrence. Further analysis shows that the size of the lesion, whether en-bloc resection or not, and the method of resection as independent risk factors for incomplete resection (OR = 1.732,  = 0.031; OR = 3.716,  = 0.049; OR = 2.120,  = 0.027). CDT- EP, HSP and EMR are all suitable methods for the treatment of ampullary adenoma or early adenocarcinoma. Assisted traction technology can reduce the operation difficulty of large and difficult to expose lesions, thereby improving the efficacy and safety of EP.