Year 2020 gave a unique experience to each and every individual of our society. It taught us some of the unknown and unfamiliar concepts such as “social distancing,” “lockdowns,” “virtual meetings,” “mask mandates,” and “second wave.” We learned to adapt to the risk of unknown unknowns. Our journal made a good beginning last year by dedicating its first issue to articles related to COVID issues, particularly in respect of gastrointestinal endoscopy. It gave some clear concepts on COVID-19 and endoscopy practice that helped the practicing gastroenterologists and especially endoscopists to face the challenge of COVID-19 pandemic in a better way. I sincerely appreciate all the authors of the March 2020 issue for putting their efforts in making the issue fruitful. It covered all the aspects of COVID-19, including epidemiology and infectivity to treatment. We are happy to announce the articles that we consider “best” published in the Journal of Digestive Endoscopy in 2020.
Best Original Articles
An article, “Outcomes of double balloon enteroscopy for managing overt small bowel bleeding,” by Dalal et al[1] highlighted the role of double-balloon enteroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of small bowel pathological conditions and how it reduces the need for immediate surgical interventions.
The second article, “Endoscopic management of postlaparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy leaks: a single-center experience,” by Jagtap et al[2] enlightened us how post–laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy leaks can be managed by endotherapy with significant success rates and acceptable morbidity. They also showed how improvement in stent designs along with supplementary use of other endoscopic therapeutic modalities can further improve clinical success in such patients.
Another good article was “Use of n-butyl 2 cyanoacrylate without lipiodol, using a modified protocol in gastric variceal bleed management: retrospective analysis of 2299 patients” by Desai et al.[3] The authors showed how endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided angiotherapy is an effective and safe intervention for managing gastric variceal bleeding with high technical success rate.
A nationwide survey of Indian gastroenterologists on “perception and practices of colonoscopy procedure” by Jha and Babu[4] assessed the practices and policies of performing colonoscopy by gastroenterologists in our region. It highlighted their preferences in conducting colonoscopies that will help formulate practice guideline for a successful and safe colonoscopy.
Jagtap et al[5] studied the clinical impact of universal screening for COVID-19 before therapeutic endoscopy. There is a scarcity of literature to support such screening prior to therapeutic endoscopy. Since the second wave of COVID-19 seems to be knocking at our door, it will definitely guide the practicing endoscopists to formulate a screening protocol based on their local needs and resource availability.
Lastly, in this category, another good article was “Endoscopic treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding using Haemoseal Spray: a retrospective, observational study from a tertiary center in north India” by Bansal et al.[6] In this study, it was found that Haemoseal Spray was an effective and safe tool in the endoscopic management of upper gastrointestinal bleed due to diffuse or multiple focal lesions as well as focal lesions refractory to conventional endotherapy.
Best Review Articles
When the first issue of our journal was published in March 2020, there was hardly any literature on impact of COVID-19 on gastrointestinal symptoms and endoscopy practice. Three best articles of that issue were “2019 novel coronavirus infection: gastrointestinal manifestations” by Samanta et al,[7] “Risk of COVID-19 transmission during gastrointestinal endoscopy” by Rana,[8] and “Indications for gastrointestinal endoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic” by Gunjan and Garg.[9] Other best review articles published in the Journal of Digestive Endoscopy in 2020 were “Interpretation of benign gastric mucosal lesions using narrow-band imaging” by Paghadhar et al[10] and “EUS-guided celiac plexus interventions” by Sharma et al.[11]
Best Articles in Other Categories
A case report by Kothakota et al,[12] on small bowel angiodysplasia managed with novel motorized spiral enteroscope, demonstrated multiple angiodysplasia lesions in ileum that were managed with argon plasma coagulation during motorized spiral enteroscopy—a new kid on the block in the field of small bowel enteroscopy. Another case report by Balekuduru et al,[13] “Endoscopic ultrasound-guided transgastric fine needle aspiration of splenic metastasis,” reported how EUS-guided fine needle aspiration is a useful modality for cytopathological diagnosis of splenic lesions. We also had an interesting case series “Common bile duct polyp—rare but not so rare cause of obstructive jaundice” by Kabrawala et al.[14] They described clinical presentation and histopathological characteristics of five patients with common bile duct polyps. In the Videos section, Singh et al[15] demonstrated endoscopic management of obstructive jaundice in pregnancy due to hepatic hydatid disease. Another interesting endoscopic video by Zimmer showed eosinophilic esophagitis stricture dilatation using BougieCap using ancillary rotational movements under both endoscopic and haptic control.[16]
Overall, the editorial board is satisfied with the progress of the quality of the journal. Of course, we expect and invite review articles, original articles, and interesting videos from our endoscopy fraternity. Wishing you a successful and healthy 2021.
