Published online Jul 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i19.6428
Peer-review started: October 27, 2021
First decision: March 11, 2022
Revised: March 26, 2022
Accepted: April 21, 2022
Article in press: April 21, 2022
Published online: July 6, 2022
Processing time: 239 Days and 19.9 Hours
Large gastric persimmon stones are generally resistant to standard endoscopic treatments. We applied an alternative endoscopic method using a hand-made snare for the treatment of large gastric phytobezoars.
To explore the clinical efficacy of a self-made wire loop snare to treat giant gastric persimmon stones.
A retrospective study evaluated the clinical data of 38 patients with gastroliths admitted to Taihe Hospital in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, China, between March 2015 and October 2020. The patients were divided into observation (n = 23) and control (n = 15) groups. Patients in the observation group were treated with self-made wire loop snares for lithotripsy, and patients in the control group were treated with traditional foreign body forceps, snares, injection needles, and other tools. Successful stone removal, treatment time, and hospital stay were compared.
The average operating time was significantly shorter (P < 0.001) in the observation group (53.4 min) than that in the control group (172.8 min). The average hospital stay of the observation group (5.4 d) was significantly shorter (P < 0.001) than that in the control group (10.3 d). Successful one-time treatment was significantly more frequent (P < 0.001) in the observation group (87%) than in the control group (7%).
Self-made guidewire loop snares were successfully used to treat gastrolithiasis, and were significantly more effective than foreign body forceps, snares, and other traditional methods.
Core tip: Endoscopic therapy is the first choice for gastrolithiasis. The commonly used method is cutting gastroliths into small pieces and then taking them out with foreign body forceps, snares, injection needles, and net baskets. However, these tools have insurmountable defects, such as cumbersome operation times and must be entered repeatedly, increasing the risk of damage to the patient’s throat and esophagus, and has higher treatment costs. Since October 2016, our team has treated gastric persimmon stones with self-made snares. In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of self-made snares will be analyzed and compared with those of traditional tools.