Gastrointestinal Perforations During Endoscopy: Recognition and Management.

Gastrointestinal perforations can occur both iatrogenically through endoscopic interventions as well as spontaneously due to underlying uncontrolled disease states. All endoscopists performing endoscopic therapeutic interventions should be comfortable identifying endoscopic perforations. With continued device development and innovation, there are a wide variety of tools each with their individual strengths and weaknesses that can be used to provide endoscopic closure. It is important to keep an open line of communication with surgical colleagues and work in a multidisciplinary fashion to determine when endoscopic closure alone may not be sufficient.