Abstract
A comparison of the contact and the noncontact treatment methods has demonstrated the superior advantages of the former: 1) a good field of vision could be maintained due to less smoke, 2) reproducible radiation on the lesion was possible, 3) damage to the blood and mucous membrane by the tip of the fiber was avoidable, 4) pain and abdominal distention was reduced by the use of water delivery instead of gas. In the treatment of early gastric cancers, some portions such as the prepylorus and upper part of the corpus, which were especially difficult to irradiate with the noncontact method, can now be treated with ease. Moreover, the margin of the cancerous lesion can be first irradiated correctly as the marking line by the contact probe because it is most important to recognize the definite margin of the lesion before treatment.
Until now, 83 patients having a total of 89 lesions with early gastric cancer have been treated by laser endoscopic treatment. Of these, 42 lesions were treated by the contact method or the combination of both methods. Especially, effective-rate was 100% for IIa, gastritis-like cancer less than 2cm and focal cancer in adenoma.
