Endoscopic submucosal dissection combined with clip closure is effective to close gastrointestinal fistulas including refractory ones.

ABSTRACT Objective: Gastrointestinal (GI) fistula, a life-threatening condition, represents a therapeutic challenge. Rescue surgery could be hazardous and/or impact quality of life justifying endoscopic con-servative approach including mucosal abrasion, clip closure or stent diversion with moderate success rates in the long term. We assessed whether Fistulas Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection with clip Closure (FESDC) could lead to complete resolution of fistulas even if previous endoscopic therapy failed. Results: 23 patients with GI fistulas were retrospectively included, 57% of those were defined as refractory fistulas since previous endoscopic treatment failed. Tight immediate sealing was obtained for 19 patients (83% [95% CI: 61%, 95%]) who received FESDC. Long term closure (>3 months) was obtained in 14 cases (61% [95% CI: 39%, 80%]) with a median follow-up of 20 months. Ad-verse events occurred in 9% of cases. Previous local malignancy (p=0.077) or radiation therapy (p=0.047) were associated with a higher risk of failure. Conclusion: The new FESDC strategy is safe and allows permanent endoscopic closure of GI fistulas in 61% of the patients, and 54% of those with previous attempt. Further studies are war-ranted to determine the place of this technic in the management of chronic GI fistula.