Initial experience with per-rectal endoscopic myotomy for Hirschsprung's disease: medium and long term outcomes of the first case series of a novel third-space endoscopy procedure

Long per-rectal endoscopic myotomy for a case of Hirchsprung's disease

Video 1The colonoscopy showed a nondilated rectum, distal sigmoid, and a roomy, dilated proximal colon, with the transition zone at 23 cm from the squamo-columnar junction.

Submucosal endoscopy: the present and future

Submucosal endoscopy or third-space endoscopy utilizes the potential space between the mucosal and muscularis layers of the gastrointestinal tract to execute therapeutic interventions for various diseases. Over the last decade, endoscopic access to the submucosal space has revolutionized the field of therapeutic endoscopy. Submucosal endoscopy was originally used to perform endoscopic myotomy in patients with achalasia cardia, and its use has grown exponentially since. Currently, submucosal endoscopy is widely used to resect subepithelial tumors and to manage refractory gastroparesis and Zenker's diverticulum. While the utility of submucosal endoscopy has stood the test of time in esophageal motility disorders and subepithelial tumors, its durability remains to be established in conditions such as Zenker's diverticulum and refractory gastroparesis. Other emerging indications for submucosal endoscopy include esophageal epiphrenic diverticulum, Hirschsprung's disease, and esophageal strictures not amenable to conventional endoscopic treatment. The potential of submucosal endoscopy to provide easy and safe access to the mediastinum and peritoneal spaces may open doors to novel indications and rejuvenate the interest of endoscopists in natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery in the future. This review focuses on the current spectrum, recent updates, and future direction of submucosal endoscopy in the gastrointestinal tract.

Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy Technique, from Mouth to Anus

The peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) procedure, as described over 10 years ago, is a submucosal endoscopy procedure that allows access to the muscle layers throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. With this access, and ability to cut the muscle fibers, POEM can be performed not only for motility disorders but for structural pathology as well, such as Zenker diverticulum. Regardless of the location, there are 4 steps to the procedure: mucosotomy, submucosal tunneling, myotomy, and mucostomy closure. This review outlines these key components as well as variations in techniques for POEM throughout the GI tract.

New Applications for Submucosal Tunneling in Third Space Endoscopy: A Comprehensive Review

Third space endoscopy (TSE), a type of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery, was first introduced a decade ago, and since then, has revolutionized the field of therapeutic endoscopy. TSE involves tunneling into the submucosal space between the intestinal mucosa and the muscularis propria. By accessing this "third space," endoscopists can perform minimally invasive myotomies, resections, and dissections while maintaining the mucosa and preventing full-thickness perforation. TSE procedures can be used to treat motility disorders as well as neoplasms throughout the gastrointestinal tract, which were traditionally conditions that would require open or laparoscopic surgery. The main TSE procedures include peroral endoscopic myotomy, gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy, Zenker peroral endoscopic myotomy, submucosal tunneling for endoscopic resection, endoscopic submucosal tunnel dissection, peroral endoscopic tunneling for restoration of the esophagus, and per-rectal endoscopic myotomy. Some of those procedures have now been accepted as viable alternative to surgical techniques due to their limited invasiveness, safety and cost. This review will explore the different techniques recently added to our arsenal while describing their potential efficacy and limitations.

The Classification and Surgical Treatments in Adult Hirschsprung’s Disease: A Retrospective Study

Purpose

To explore the treatments and short-term effects of different types of adult Hirschsprung’s disease.

Methods

89 patients treated in Shanghai Changhai Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. According to the patient’s medical history, clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination and postoperative pathological results, the patients were divided into adult congenital megacolon, adult idiopathic megacolon, ganglion cell deficiency (types I and II), toxic megacolon and iatrogenic megacolon, The Treatment methods and short-term prognosis of patients in each group were summarized.

Results

41 cases of Hirschsprung’s disease in adults and low anterior resection or pull-out low anterior resection was performed, and 35 patients with idiopathic Megacolon were treated with one-stage subtotal colon resection under the condition of adequate preoperative preparation. Some patients admitted for emergency intestinal obstruction received conservative treatment first or underwent elective surgery after colonoscopic decompression was improved; two patients with ganglion cell deficiency subtotal colectomy were performed to remove the dilated proximal bowel segment and the narrow distal bowel segment; three patients with toxic Hirschsprung’s disease underwent colostomy in mild cases, while subtotal colorectal resection was required in severe cases; Iatrogenic megacolon was diagnosed in eight cases and the optimum operation should be selected according to the specific conditions of patients.

Conclusion

Adult Hirschsprung’s diseases were divided into adult congenital hirschsprung’s disease, idiopathic Hirschsprung’s disease, ganglion cell deficiency, toxic hirschsprung’s disease, and iatrogenic Hirschsprung’s disease. Different types of surgical treatments for Hirschsprung’s disease in adults should be selected according to the specific diagnosis. All patients with adult Hirschsprung’s diseases have good short-term outcomes after surgical treatment.

Third-Space Endoscopy: Recent Updates

Third space or submucosal space is a potential space which on expansion allows the endoscopist to execute a multitude of therapeutic procedures for various gastrointestinal diseases like achalasia, subepithelial tumors, Zenker’s diverticulum, and refractory gastroparesis. Third space was first utilized for performing endoscopic myotomy in cases with achalasia cardia about a decade ago. Since then, the field of submucosal endoscopy has witnessed an exponential growth. The present review focuses on recent advances in the field of third-space endoscopy. With regard to per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) in achalasia cardia, several recent studies have evaluated the long-term outcomes of POEM, compared endoscopic myotomy with pneumatic dilatation (PD) and surgical myotomy, and evaluated the outcomes of short- versus long-esophageal myotomy. In addition, the utility of multiple dose antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent infections after POEM has been questioned. Overall, the results from these studies indicate that POEM is a durable treatment modality, equally effective to Heller’s myotomy and superior to PD. With regard to gastric-POEM (G-POEM), recent studies suggest only modest efficacy in cases with refractory gastroparesis. Therefore, quality studies are required to identify predictors of response to optimize the outcomes of G-POEM in these cases. Another third-space endoscopy procedure that has gained popularity is endoscopic division of septum in cases with esophageal diverticula including Zenker’s POEM and epiphrenic diverticula POEM (Z-POEM and D-POEM, respectively). The technique of diverticulotomy using the principles of submucosal endoscopy appears safe and effective in short term. Data on term outcomes are awaited and comparative trials with flexible endoscopic myotomy required. Per-rectal endoscopic myotomy (PREM) is the most recent addition to third space endoscopy procedures for the management of short-segment Hirschsprung’s disease. Limited data suggest that PREM may be a promising alternative surgery in these cases. However, quality studies with long-term follow-up are required to validate the outcomes of PREM.