The Clinical Effect of Endoscopic Mucosal Needle Aspiration Combined with Anhydrous Alcohol in the Treatment of Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis.

Background/Aims: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of endoscopic mucosal needle aspiration combined with intracapsular anhydrous alcohol injection for colonic pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI). Materials and Methods: In this single-center, quasi-randomized comparative study, 86 patients diagnosed with colonic PCI and treated between April 2021 and April 2023 were allocated to a control group (needle aspiration alone, n = 43) or an observation group (needle aspiration plus alcohol injection, n = 43). Therapeutic efficacy, recurrence rate, complications, and postoperative satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results: No immediate or short-term complications were observed, including bleeding, perforation, obstruction, or infection. Longer follow-up is needed to assess the late adverse events. At 3 months after treatment, the overall efficacy rate was significantly higher in the observation group (100%, 43/43) than in the control group (88.37%, 38/43; χ2 = 5.309, P = .021). No recurrence was observed in the observation group, whereas 5 cases (11.63%) recurred in the control group (χ2 = 5.309, P = .021). Furthermore, postoperative satisfaction was markedly higher in the observation group (95.35%) compared with the control group (79.07%). Conclusion: Endoscopic mucosal needle aspiration combined with intracapsular anhydrous alcohol injection was technically feasible. No immediate or short-term complications were observed. These findings suggest potential short-term benefit, but larger, multicenter studies with longer follow-up are needed to confirm effectiveness and late adverse events.