Efficacy and safety of the SB Knife™ Jr. for the treatment of Zenker's diverticulum: a case series

Effectiveness and safety of stag beetle knife (SB knife) in management of Zenker's diverticulum: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Stag Beetle Knife (SB Knife) is increasingly being utilized for Zenker's Diverticulectomy (ZD). Our study assessed the effectiveness and safety of the SB Knife for the management of ZD. Ovid EBM reviews, Ovid Embase, Ovid Medline, ClinicalTrials.gov, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to identify studies that utilized SB knife for ZD. Pooled proportions (PP) were calculated using the random-effects model. Heterogeneity was evaluated using I2 statistics. A total of 7 studies with 268 patients were included in the final analysis. Dysphagia and regurgitation were the most common clinical symptoms. The mean size of the ZD was 2.8 ± 0.7 cm and 28 (of 148) patients had undergone previous treatments. The PP of technical success was 98% (95% CI: 92.3-99.5; I20) with a mean procedure duration of 26.2 ± 8.3 minutes. The PP of clinical response at first follow-up and relapse after index procedure was 87.9% (95% CI: 81.6-92.3; I219) and 13.5% (95% CI: 9.6-18.6; I22), respectively. At final follow-up, the PP of clinical remission was 96.2% (95% CI: 91-98.4; I230.6) while the PP of procedure failure was 3.6% (95% CI: 1.6-8.1; I20). No severe adverse events (AEs) were noted while using the SB Knife. However, the PP of intraprocedural and postprocedural AEs was 13.2% (95% CI: 9.6-17.8; I20) and 9.3% (95% CI: 5.7-14.9; I2 < 20.9), respectively. SB Knife is highly safe and effective for Zenker's Diverticulectomy with a failure rate of only 3.6%.

Suspected malignant degeneration in a Zenker's diverticulum: should we biopsy it?

We report the case of an eighty-nine-year-old woman with progressive weight loss, oropharyngeal dysphagia and food regurgitation, presenting a Zenker's diverticulum with a lesion suggestive of malignant degeneration. Conservative management with endoscopic treatment was chosen due to the high surgical risk of the patient. Given the infrequency of these findings, we wondered about the best attitude to follow regarding both diagnosis and treatment according to the patient's characteristics.

Endoscopic septotomy of Zenker's diverticulum with Stag-Beetle Knife™: A descriptive observational study and literature review

INTRODUCTION

Zenker's diverticulum (ZD) is a protrusion of the hypopharyngeal mucosa with a prevalence of 2/100,000 inhabitants. The symptoms of the patients determine the need for treatment, which can be surgical or endoscopic. The latter, known as endoscopic septotomy or diverticulotomy (ED), this involves dissecting the diverticular septum, which can be performed with different dissection devices.

AIM

The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ED with Stag-Beetle-Knife™ device, as well as to conduct a literature review to assess the position of the technique in the current scientific panorama.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Descriptive retrospective study that includes patients who underwent ED with SB-Knife™ between June 2017 and February 2020. Literature review of the available evidence between January 2013 and April 2020 of ED with SB-Knife™ technique and its variants.

RESULTS

Twelve patients (66% male) with a median age of 70.5 years were collected. The median size of diverticular was 32.5mm and complete remission was observed in 75% of the cases. Fourteen interventions were performed with a technical success of 92.8. There were no serious complications. A literature review was carried out, finding 13 papers, of which 8 were finally included (6 retrospective studies, a series of cases and a clinical case).

CONCLUSION

Based on our experience and the reviewed literature, we consider ED with SB-Knife™ is a safe, effective and reproducible technique, and may be a better alternative to surgery in patients with ZD.