Balloon-assisted technique for endoscopic en bloc retrieval of a large gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor specimen.

Abstract

A 64-year-old woman underwent gastroscopy and abdominal computed tomography, which revealed a 4.0 × 3.5 cm gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) in the anterior wall of the stomach ([Fig. 1 a]). After full evaluation, an endoscopic full-thickness resection technique was used to achieve complete resection ([Fig. 1 b]). It is very important to retrieve the complete specimen to allow for subsequent pathological evaluation; however, retrieval is difficult for specimen larger than 3.5 cm. Wu et al. successfully applied a balloon-assisted technique for removal of large esophageal foreign bodies [1]. Therefore, we applied this technique for endoscopic en bloc retrieval of a large gastric GIST specimen ([Video 1]).