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Background There has been a paradigm shift in tertiary centers from endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) fine-needle aspiration to EUS fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) for tissue acquisition in solid lesions. While data exists on the use of FNB needles in solid pancreatic lesions, very few studies looked at the utility of FNB in solid extrapancreatic lesions. Our aim was to study and compare the technical success and feasibility of EUS-FNB in evaluating solid pancreatic and extrapancreatic lesions using a novel FNB needle. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with solid masses or lesions needing EUS-guided core biopsy at the University of Utah between May 2016 and November 2017. All core biopsies were obtained using an Acquire™Fine Needle Biopsy Device (Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick MA, USA). Rapid on-site evaluation was performed by a boardcertified cytopathologist in all cases. Results One hundred thirty-two patients (87 male) were included. Ninety-nine (73.3%) of the lesions were located in the pancreas. All needle sizes (19 G, 22 G and 25 G) had similar yield. The mean number of passes needed was 2.28±0.7. EUS-FNB of the pancreatic lesions had a diagnostic accuracy of 97.9%, comparable to the 97.2% for the biopsied extra-pancreatic lesions. Only 3 of 132 cases needed re-biopsy at a later date. No immediate adverse events were reported. Conclusion In this large, single-center study, EUS-FNB with a novel Franseen-design needle was proven to be an effective modality for tissue acquisition from both pancreatic and extrapancreatic solid lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a case series of 4 patients who underwent routine gastrointestinal endoscopy under moderate sedation and developed corneal injuries. Although corneal abrasion has been reported as the most common ocular complication during non-ocular surgery under general anesthesia, the risk for corneal abrasion during routine endoscopic procedures using moderate sedation has not been previously reported. Symptoms reported included ocular burning, scratchy sensation, redness, and pain reported post-procedure. Endoscopists and staff should be alert to the occurrence of this potentially serious complication, as this is paramount for its prevention, diagnosis, and management. Treatment of corneal abrasion includes referral to ophthalmology for close monitoring, pain management, pressure patch, and antimicrobial prophylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Endoscopic necrosectomy has emerged as the preferred treatment modality for walled-off pancreatic necrosis. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of direct endoscopic necrosectomy with and without hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) lavage., Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were performed for all patients undergoing endoscopic transmural management of walled-off pancreatic necrosis at 9 major medical centers from November 2011 to August 2018. Clinical success was defined as the resolution of the collection by imaging within 6 months, without requiring non-endoscopic procedures or surgery., Results: Of 293 patients, 204 met the inclusion criteria. Technical and clinical success rates were 100% (204/204) and 81% (166/189), respectively. For patients, 122 (59.8%) patients had at least one H2O2 necrosectomy (H2O2 group) and 82 (40.2%) patients had standard endoscopic necrosectomy. Clinical success was higher in the H2O2 group: 106/113 (93.8%) vs 60/76 (78.9%), P = 0.002. On a multivariate analysis, the use of H2O2 was associated with higher clinical success rate (odds ratio 3.30, P = 0.033) and earlier resolution (odds ratio 2.27, P < 0.001). During a mean follow-up of 274 days, 27 complications occurred. Comparing procedures performed with and without H2O2 (n = 250 vs 183), there was no difference in post-procedure bleeding (7 vs 9, P = 0.25), perforation (2 vs 3, P = 0.66), infection (1 vs 2, P = 0.58), or overall complication rate (n = 13 [5.2%] vs 14 [7.7%], P = 0.30)., Discussion: H2O2-assisted endoscopic necrosectomy had a higher clinical success rate and a shorter time to resolution with equivalent complication rates relative to standard necrosectomy.See the visual abstract at http://links.lww.com/AJG/B714.(Equation is included in full-text article.).

Background and study aims  Stent migration is a common complication of fully-covered self-expanding metal stents (FCSEMS), but the rate of clinically relevant migration as defined by stent migration followed by reintervention via endoscopy for stent replacement is unknown. The goal of this study is to gain insight into the total migration rate and clinically relevant migration rate of different types of FCSEMS placed within benign and malignant strictures with specific attention paid to stent manufacturer, diameter, and length. Patients and methods  Multicenter retrospective analysis of endoscopic data from patients with FCSEMS placed within benign or malignant strictures. FCSEMS used included a variety of sizes and manufacturers. Results  A total of 369 patients were included, 161 of whom had benign strictures and 208 of whom had malignant strictures. The total migration rate and clinically relevant migration rate in benign strictures were 30 % and 17 %, respectively. For benign strictures, Wallflex stents had a clinically relevant migration rate of 15 %, compared to Endomaxx stents with 19 %, and Evolution stents with 25 % ( P  = 0.52). The total migration rate and clinically relevant migration rates in malignant strictures were 23 % and 14 %, respectively. Evolution stents had a significantly higher clinically relevant migration rate (29 %) than the Wallflex stents (7 %) and the endomaxx stents (12 %), P  = 0.003. Conclusion  This study is the largest to investigate migration rates for FCSEMS in benign and malignant strictures. Clinically relevant migration is a relatively common occurrence with all stent types studied and better anti-migration features are needed.

Background and Objectives: We present a multicenter study of a new endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) needle (Acquire, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA). The aim of the study was to analyze the needle's clinical performance when sampling solid lesions and to assess the safety of this device., Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective study of patients undergoing EUS-FNB during July 1-November 15, 2016., Results: Two hundred patients (121 males and 79 females) underwent EUS-FNB of solid lesions with the Acquire needle. Lesions included solid pancreatic masses (n = 109), adenopathy (n = 45), submucosal lesions (n = 34), cholangiocarcinoma (n = 8), liver lesions (n = 6), and other (n = 8). Mean lesion size was 30.6 mm (range: 3-100 mm). The mean number of passes per target lesion was 3 (range: 1-7). Rapid onsite cytologic evaluation (ROSE) by a cytologist was performed in all cases. Tissue obtained by EUS-FNB was adequate for evaluation and diagnosis by ROSE in 197/200 cases (98.5%). Data regarding the presence or absence of a core of tissue obtained after EUS-FNB were available in 145/200 procedures. In 131/145 (90%) of cases, a core of tissue was obtained. Thirteen out of 200 patients (6.5%) underwent some form of repeat EUS-based tissue acquisition after EUS-FNB with the Acquire needle. There were no adverse events., Conclusion: Overall, this study showed a high rate of tissue adequacy and production of a tissue core with this device with no adverse events seen in 200 patients. Comparative studies of different FNB needles are warranted in the future to help identify which needle type and size is ideal in different clinical settings., Competing Interests: None

Backgrounds and Objectives: No study on the use of lumen-apposing fully covered self-expanding metal stent (LAMS) to drain pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs) has evaluated outcomes of patients in the outpatient setting. The objective of this multicenter study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes, success rate, and adverse events of the LAMS for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided transmural drainage of patients with symptomatic PFCs on an inpatient versus an outpatient basis., Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective study conducted at 4 tertiary care centers., Results: We identified eighty patients with PFCs in whom EUS-guided transmural drainage using the LAMS was performed. The mean age of the patients was 53.1 years old. Mean size of the PFC was 11.8 ± 5.1 cm. A total of 33 patients had PFCs drained in an outpatient setting while 47 patients underwent PFC drainage as inpatients. The overall technical success (ability to access and drain a PFC by placement of transmural stents) was 98.7% (79 patients). There was no statistically significant difference in the technical success rate between the inpatient and outpatient groups (100% vs. 98%, respectively, P = 1). There was no significant difference in resolution of PFCs in the inpatient and outpatient groups (91% vs. 87% respectively; P = 1). The number of procedures required for PFC resolution was significantly lower in the inpatient group as compared to the outpatients (2.3 vs. 3.1 respectively, P = 0.025). Procedure-related adverse events were significantly lower in the inpatient group compared to the outpatient group (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the 2 groups in terms of development of adverse events requiring endoscopic reintervention within 30 days of initial stent placement (P = 0.69)., Conclusion: This study shows that LAMS placement for PFCs can be performed safely on an outpatient basis with overall technical and clinical outcomes that are comparable to those seen in inpatients., Competing Interests: Douglas G. Adler is a speaker and consultant for Boston Scientific Janak Shah is a consultant for Boston Scientific Jose Nieto is a speaker and consultant for Boston Scientific Kenneth Binmoeller is a consultant for Boston Scientific and inventor of the LAMS Yasser Bhat has no conflicts of interest Linda Jo Taylor has no conflicts of interest Ali A. Siddiqui is a consultant for Boston Scientific.

Objectives: To report the safety and clinical efficacy with the novel lumen-apposing metal stent (LAMS) with an electrocautery enhanced delivery system for the drainage of pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs)., Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients with PFCs who underwent endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided drainage using the LAMS with an electrocautery enhanced delivery system in 2 US centers., Results: Thirteen patients with PFCs (69% with walled-off necrosis [WON]) underwent drainage using the study device. Successful stent placement was accomplished in all patients. Direct endoscopic necrosectomy was carried out in all nine patients with WON complete resolution of the PFC was obtained in all 13 cases, with no recurrence during follow-up. There was one procedure-related adverse event. In one patient, the LAMS was dislodged immediately after deployment, falling into the stomach where it was removed. A second electrocautery enhanced LAMS was placed in this patient immediately afterward., Conclusions: EUS-guided drainage using the LAMS with the electrocautery-enhanced delivery system is a safe, easily performed, and a highly effective for the drainage of PFCs.

Background and study aims  Long-term data are limited regarding clinical outcomes of self-expanding metal stents as an alternative for surgery in the treatment of acute proximal MBO. The aim of this study was to compare the long-term outcomes of stenting to surgery for palliation in patients with incurable obstructive CRC for lesions proximal to the splenic flexure. Patients and methods  Retrospective multicenter cohort study of obstructing proximal CRC patients with who underwent insertion of a SEMS (n = 69) or surgery (n = 36) from 1999 to 2014. The primary endpoint was relief of obstruction. Secondary endpoints included technical success, duration of hospital stay, early and late adverse events (AEs) and survival. Results  Technical success was achieved in 62/69 (89.8 %) patients in the SEMS group and in 36 /36 (100 %) patients who underwent surgery ( P  = 0.09). In the SEMS group, 10 patients underwent stenting as a bridge to surgery and 59 underwent stent placement for palliation. Clinical relief was achieved in 78 % of patients with stenting and in 100 % of patients who underwent surgery ( P  < 0.001). Patients with SEMS had significantly less acute AEs compared to the surgery group (7.2 % vs. 30.5 %, P  = 0.003). Hospital mortality for the SEMS group was 0 % compared to 5.6 % in the surgery group ( P  = 0.11). Patients in the SEMS group had a significantly shorter median hospital stay (4 days) as compared to the surgery group (8 days) ( P  < 0.01). Maintenance of decompression without the recurrence of bowel obstruction until death or last follow-up was lower in the SEMS group (73.9 %) than the surgery group (97.3 %; P  = 0.003). SEMS placement was associated with higher long-term complication rates compared to surgery (21 % and 11 % P  = 0.27). Late SEMS AEs included occlusion (10 %), migration (5 %), and colonic ulcer (6 %). At 120 weeks, survival in the SEMS group was 5.6 % vs. 0 % in the surgery group ( P  = 0.8). Conclusions  Technical and clinical success associated with proximal colonic obstruction are higher with surgery when compared to SEMS, but surgery is associated with longer hospital stays and more early AEs. SEMS should be considered the initial mode of therapy in patients with acute proximal MBO and surgery should be reserved for SEMS failure, as surgery involves a high morbidity and mortality.

Background and Objectives: Standard endoscopic ultrasound-fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) needles are in widespread use. Meaningful differences between the available needles have been difficult to identify. Recently, a new EUS needle (Shark Core®, Covidien, Dublin, Leinster, Ireland), has been introduced in an attempt to improve diagnostic accuracy, tissue yield, and to potentially obtain a core tissue sample. We performed a pilot study prospectively to evaluate this new needle when compared to a standard EUS-FNA needle., Materials and Methods: Analysis of the first 15 patients undergoing EUS-FNA with the Shark Core needle was performed and it was compared to EUS-FNA in 15 patients who underwent EUS-FNA with a standard needle., Results: The Shark Core needle required fewer needle passes to obtain diagnostic adequacy than the standard needle [(χ(2)(1) = 11.3, P < 0.001]. The Shark Core needle required 1.5 passes to reach adequacy, whereas the standard needle required three passes. For cases with cell blocks, the Shark Core needle produced diagnostic material in 85% of cases [95% confidence interval (CI): 54-98], whereas the standard needle produced diagnostic material in 38% of the cases (95% CI: 9-76). The Shark Core needle produced actual tissue cores 82% of the time (95% CI: 48-98) and the standard needle produced no tissue cores (95% CI: 0-71) (P = 0.03)., Conclusion: This pilot study found that the Shark Core needle had a high rate of producing adequate cytologic material for the diagnosis of pancreatic and peri-pancreatic lesions sampled by EUS with fewer passes required to obtain a definitive diagnosis and with a high rate of tissue cores being obtained when compared to a standard FNA needle.