Abstract

Background: Subepithelial gastric tumors are a group of lesions often incidentally detected during gastrointestinal endoscopy, characterized by diverse clinical presentations and histopathological features. In recent years, endoscopic resection techniques have been increasingly utilized as a minimally invasive treatment option, particularly for small to medium-sized lesions without suspicion of malignancy. Objective: To describe the clinical, endoscopic, and histopathological characteristics and to evaluate the outcomes of endoscopic resection of gastric submucosal tumors at Phuong Dong General Hospital. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on patients aged ≥ 18 years with gastric submucosal tumors who underwent endoscopic resection from August 2024 to October 2025. Collected data included clinical features, endoscopic findings, histopathological results, resection techniques, complications, and post-procedural outcomes. Results: A total of 41 patients were included (female: 58.5%, male: 41.5%), with a mean age of 49.2 ± 14.2 years. The most common symptom was epigastric pain (85.4%). Tumors were most frequently located in the fundus (68.9%), followed by the body and cardia (both 11.1%). The mean tumor size was 7.44 ± 2.29 mm. The en bloc (R0) resection rate was 100%. Perforation occurred in 2 cases (4.4%), which were treated endoscopically without the need for additional surgery. The mean hospital stay was 3.0 ± 1.4 days. Conclusion: Endoscopic resection of gastric submucosal tumors is an effective and safe treatment method, offering a high complete-resection rate and a low complication rate. It is suitable for lesions of small to medium size that do not raise suspicion of malignancy. However, further studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are needed to confirm the value and generalizability of this technique.