Clips for closure of full-thickness defects

The ability to close a full-thickness defect of the gastrointestinal wall is a key step in performance of full-thickness resection and translumenal procedures. This step perhaps represents the greatest hurdle in overcoming the barriers to making full-thickness resection a common therapeutic endoscopic procedure. There are many devices and methods that have been developed for closure of an iatrogenic defect, but through-the-scope and over-the-scope clips are most widely available. This article reviews the literature and methods of using clips for full-thickness defect closure.