LAUSR

BACKGROUND Recently, endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage has attracted much attention. However, the risk management of adverse events and techniques to avoid them are not yet mature. Difficulty dilating the fistula with a dilator or placing a stent for drainage often prolongs the procedure time, which increases the risk of peritonitis or the procedure failure rate. Therefore, the result of the procedure will be unstable, and one cause is the lack of adhesion between the gallbladder and the digestive tract walls. METHODS We developed an anchor to fix the stomach and gallbladder walls prior to endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage in four live pigs using the anchor. RESULTS The stomach and gallbladder walls were fixed in three pigs, and technical success was achieved in all three pigs. In two pigs that were dissected 17 and 34 days post-procedure, respectively, fixation occurred in one pig. In the other pig, anchoring of the gallbladder and stomach walls did not occur because the wings of the anchor in the gallbladder were damaged. CONCLUSIONS Although issues remain regarding efficacy and safety, we plan to make improvements in this novel device and aim for clinical application.