Autologous skin-grafting surgery to prevent esophageal stenosis after complete circular endoscopic submucosal tunnel dissection: a case-matched controlled study

Background The incidence of postoperative stenosis after endoscopic resection of wholly circumferential superficial esophageal squamous cell neoplasms (SESCNs) is extremely high. Methods Between January 2011 and April 2019, 19 patients who underwent autologous skin-grafting surgery (ASGS) after complete circular endoscopic submucosal tunnel dissection (ccESTD) were enrolled to form the ASGS group. Cases in the ASGS group were individually matched at a 1:1 ratio to cases undergoing fully covered esophageal stent (FCES) placement alone (FCES group) based on pathological diagnosis, curative resection, longitudinal length of ulceration, lack of stent migration, time to stent removal, follow-up period and operators. Baseline characteristics and treatment outcomes were compared between the two groups. Results Baseline characteristics were comparable between the ASGS group and the FCES group. The incidence of patients with esophageal stenosis after removal of the stent in the ASGS group was significantly reduced compared that in the FCES group (36.8% vs 78.9%, p = 0.020). Comparison of preventive methods (ASGS vs FCES alone) between the stenosis group and nonstenosis group revealed that ASGS accounted for a higher proportion than FCES alone in the nonstenosis group ( p = 0.020). Conclusions Compared with FCES placement alone, ASGS appeared to be more effective in preventing esophageal stenosis after ccESTD for SESCNs.