The effect of scissor-type versus non-scissor-type knives on the technical outcomes in endoscopic submucosal dissection for superficial esophageal cancer: A multi-center retrospective study

The Clutch Cutter was invented as a scissor-type knife for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) of gastrointestinal neoplasms. ESD with the scissor-type knife (ESD-S) may be considered a technically easier procedure than ESD with non-scissor-type knives (ESD-NS). Therefore, this study aimed to compare the technical outcomes of ESD-S with those of ESD-NS for superficial esophageal cancer. This was a multicenter retrospective study. Patients with superficial esophageal cancer treated with ESD between October 2015 and March 2018 at three hospitals were retrospectively reviewed. The ESD-S group had 48 patients and the ESD-NS group had 114 patients. A propensity score matching analysis was performed to compensate for the confounding bias between both groups. Multivariate analyses and propensity score matching were used to adjust for age, sex, the tumor size, tumor location, tumor depth, degree of tumor circumference, operator level, usage of the traction method, and the sedation method. The primary outcome was the procedure time of the ESD. Secondary outcomes were the rate of en-bloc/complete resection and the rate of complications including perforation, delayed bleeding, and stricture. Propensity score matching analysis provided 36 matched pairs. Median procedure time in the ESD-S group was significantly shorter than that in the ESD-NS group (44.0 min vs. 66.5 min, P = 0.020). In addition, the treatment outcomes were similar in both groups (en-bloc resection: 100% vs. 97.2%, P = 1; complete resection: 88.9% vs. 86.1%, P = 1; curative resection: 80.6% vs. 77.8%, P = 1; perforation: 0% vs. 5.6%, P = 0.49; delayed bleeding: 0% in both groups; stricture: 2.8% vs. 8.3%, P = 0.61). ESD-S was associated with a shorter procedure time than ESDNS, without an increase in the incidence of complications. Therefore, the scissor-type knife should be considered as an endo-knife for ESD of superficial esophageal cancers.