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Reports on learning curve for peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) in therapeutic endoscopy nonexperts are limited. We aimed to assess the number of cases required to achieve POEM proficiency for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) experts and nonexperts.This is a retrospective study at the largest POEM referral center in Japan. POEM between April 2014 and December 2020 were included. Nonexperts and ESD experts were divided by training phases: A, 1-20; B, 21-40; C, 41-60; D, 61-80; and E, 81-100 cases. Primary outcome was operation time, and the phase to reach target time (83 min) was investigated. Secondary outcomes were clinical success rate, adverse events, and post-POEM gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).Five hundred and sixty-six cases were performed by 14 nonexperts, and 555 cases by 15 ESD experts. As the primary outcome, operation time in nonexperts was: A, 95 (79-115.8); B, 86.5 (71-105); C, 80 (70-100); D, 73 (64.5-100.5); and E, 73.5 (57.8-88.8) min, while in ESD experts: A, 90 (74-128); B, 77 (70-92); and C, 77 (70-93.5) min (median [interquartile range]). Operation time decreased significantly as experience increased in both groups (P 0.001), and nonexperts required 41-60 cases to achieve proficiency, while experts required 21-40 cases. As secondary outcomes, in nonexperts, clinical success was 96.9-100%, adverse events were 5.0-9.2%, symptomatic GERD was 11.8-26.5%, and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) intake was 11.5-18.7% in each phase. While in experts, clinical success was 96.2-100%, adverse events were 3.0-5.8%, symptomatic GERD was 14.6-22.0%, and PPI intake was 12.6-17.9%. There were no significant differences among training phases.Non-ESD experts require more cases to achieve proficiency in POEM. These results are useful for establishing POEM training programs and institutional implementation of the procedure.

Background and study aims The endoscopic pressure study integrated system (EPSIS), a novel diagnostic tool for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), allows evaluation of the anti-reflux barrier using endoscopy by monitoring the intragastric pressure (IGP) during insufflation. In this study, we evaluated the association between EPSIS results and lower esophageal sphincter (LES) function measured by high-resolution manometry (HRM) to elucidate whether EPSIS can evaluate the LES function. Patients and methods A retrospective, single-center study of patients with GERD symptoms who underwent endoscopy, pH-impedance monitoring, EPSIS, and HRM was conducted. The primary outcome was basal LES pressure and the secondary outcomes were end-respiratory LES pressure and integrated relaxation pressure (IRP). As EPSIS parameters, the following were measured: 1) pressure difference (mmHg), the difference between maximum and basal IGP; and 2) pressure gradient (mmHg/s), calculated by dividing pressure difference by the insufflating time. Pressure difference Results Forty-seven patients (median age: 53 years, 37 female) were analyzed. Pressure difference and pressure gradient significantly correlated with basal LES pressure (ρ = 0.29; P = 0.04 and ρ = 0.29; P = 0.04). Patients with EPSIS GERD pattern showed significantly lower basal LES pressure [13.2 (4.8–26.6) vs 25.3 (10.4–66.7) mmHg, P = 0.002], lower end-respiratory LES pressure [8.5 (1.1–15.9) vs 15.5 (1.9–43.9) mmHg, P = 0.019] and lower IRP [5.9 (1.0–12.0) vs 9.8 (1.3–17.8) mmHg, P = 0.020]. Conclusions This study showed a close association between EPSIS results and LES pressures measured by HRM. This indicates that EPSIS can evaluate the LES function during endoscopy and endorse the role of EPSIS as a diagnostic tool for GERD.