Objective  To give a conceptual description of natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), review the early efforts in the NOTES field, and discuss its challenges and limitations.
Data sources  The data were retrieved mainly from publications listed in MEDLINE, PubMed and China Wanfang Database from 2005 to 2009. The search term was “NOTES”.
Study selection  The articles involved in the “NOTES” study were selected and the review articles were excluded from the comparison.
Results  A marked increase in quantity in articles was shown each year for NOTES studies from 2006 to 2009. Animal experiments with “NOTES” have been carried out in China from 2007, and two independent “NOTES” procedures on humans were reported in 2009.
Conclusion  Although still in its infancy, the “NOTES” procedure is promising as another type of minimally invasive surgery and favorable alternative to current interventions.