Endoscopic treatment of early esophageal cancer with decompensated cirrhosis and successful prevention of postoperative stenosis: A case report

The management of gastrointestinal tumors with decompensated cirrhosis is extremely challenging. Patients often present with poor basic condition and coagulation function, and nutritional deficiency. Furthermore, postoperative recovery is difficult and so the majority of patients refuse surgery. The present study reports the case of a 73-year-old man with decompensated cirrhosis and early esophageal cancer. At the discretion of the patient and their family, a simultaneous approach was used to treat esophagogastric varices and perform a mucosal dissection of the early esophageal cancer via endoscopy. Post-surgery, multiple polyglycolic acid sheets were attached to the esophageal dissection wound. At >2 months post-surgery, an endoscopic re-examination of the patient showed that the esophageal mucosa had healed well, and there was no resistance detected via ordinary endoscopy. The main objective of the present study was to highlight the feasibility and safety of endoscopic treatment for patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis complicated with early esophageal cancer, and to provide a new treatment strategy for patients at high risk of esophageal stenosis after endoscopic mucosal dissection.