Laparoscopic-assisted Double-balloon Enteroscopy for Small-bowel Polyp Surveillance and Treatment in Patients with Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome

Background: Surveillance and treatment of small-bowel polyps in patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) can be challenging and may require intraoperative enteroscopy. While initial reports that used double-balloon enteroscopy (DBE) for the resection of small-bowel polyps in patients with PJS appear promising, complete enteroscopy when using this technique may require multiple procedures or may not be possible at all.

Objective: To develop a single-procedure approach to the surveillance and the treatment of small-bowel polyps in patients with PJS.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Single, North American tertiary-care center.

Patients: Individuals with PJS and small-bowel polyps identified by other modalities.

Interventions: DBE was combined with laparoscopy as a single-procedure surveillance and therapeutic strategy for small-bowel PJS polyps.

Main Outcome Measurements: Completion of enteroscopy, number of polyps resected, procedure duration, complications.

Results: Three patients with a history of PJS and known small-bowel polyps underwent laparoscopic-assisted DBE (LADBE). Complete enteroscopy was performed, and all polyps larger than 0.5 cm were resected endoscopically. No cases of cancer or dysplasia were noted; procedure times lasted from 1 to 4 hours. Postoperative complications included ileus in 2 patients.

Limitations: Small sample size, single-center experience.

Conclusions: LADBE holds promise as a new technique that can be used as both a surveillance and a therapeutic tool for small-bowel polyps in patients with PJS.