Background: The feasibility and outcome of endoscopic resection in ampullary tumors with intraductal growth remains unclear. Objective: To assess the safety, feasibility and outcomes of these patients treated by thermal ablation. Methods: Retrospective observational study. All consecutive patients who underwent an endoscopic snare papillectomy with a 6-month minimum follow-up were included. Ablation was performed with cystotomes and soft/forced coagulation. Successful endoscopic treatment was defined as no adenomatous residual tissue or recurrence observed at follow-up. Results: Of 86 patients presenting with an ampullary tumor, 73 (58 AE 14 years old, 49% men, 34% familial adenomatous polyposis) (median tumor size: 20 mm, range: 8-80) were included. En bloc and curative resection rates were achieved in 46.6% and 83.6%, respectively. Intraductal ingrowth was seen in 18 (24.7%) patients and histologically confirmed in 12 (16.4%). Intraductal ablation achieved a 100% success rate, with a 20-month median follow-up. Most of these patients had malignant forms (n ¼ 8, 66.7%), with a higher adenocarcinoma rate (33.3% versus 3.3%, p ¼ 0.001) compared to extraductal tumors. Overall, there was a 20.5% complication rate with no significant differences between both groups (p ¼ 0.676). Conclusions: Intraductal ablation achieves a high therapeutic success rate in ampullary tumors with 20 mm ductal extension, even in malignant forms or biliary and pancreatic involvement. The technique is feasible, cheap and safe and may avoid major surgery.
Key summary1. Summary of the established knowledge on this subject . Endoscopic papillectomy can offer a curative resection in 67-92% of cases.. Intraductal extension has been described as a relative contraindication for endoscopic resection and is associated with lower curative resection rates and incomplete adenoma removal. . There is no consensus on the indications for endoscopic papillectomy in intraductal extension of ampullary neoplasms and the maximum intraductal involvement able to be resected endoscopically is unknown.