Extraesophageal saline during endoscopic submucosal dissection in a patient with early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Saline submucosal injection (SSI) is an indispensable procedure before endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in patients with early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Successful SSI should create a saline cushion in the submucosa rather than elsewhere. However, saline outside the esophagus was detected incidentally by endoscopic ultrasonography during ESD in a patient with early esophageal cancer. In this case, saline separated the esophageal adventitia from adjacent tissues, and there were no complications during or after ESD. This finding indicates that it is possible to use interventional extraesophageal saline injection to help differentiate advanced esophageal cancer of Stage T3 from Stage T4 by endoscopic ultrasonography.