Training of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) in a survival porcine model

Introduction: Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has been introduced from a technique of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) as a minimally invasive and safe endoscopic procedure for the therapy of esophageal achalasia. However, due to the relatively low incidence of achalasia in the general population, the potentially serious complications and the technically demanding procedure, proper training has a critical importance. Our study aim was to trial animal model for training as to improve the initial learning curve for POEM. Methods: We applied a survival porcine model for training in POEM, si…