Endoscopic injection therapy vs. multipolar electrocoagulation vs. laser vs. injection + octreotide vs. injection +...

A prospective randomized study was performed to assess the effectiveness and safety of 5 different methods of hemostasis in selected patients with high-risk bleeding peptic ulcers.

Two hundred and eight patients (n = 208; mean age: 61.6 yrs) with endoscopic stigmata of active hemorrhage, non-bleeding vessel or adherent fresh clot were randomized during emergency endoscopy to receive one of the following modalities of endoscopic therapy (with or without pharmacological therapy): I) injection of absolute alcohol (n = 44); II) multipolar electrocoagulation (BICAP; n = 42); III) Nd-YAG laser (n = 40); IV) injection of absolute ethanol + octreotide (n = 42); V) injection of absolute ethanol + omeprazole (n = 40).

The 5 treatment groups were clinically and endoscopically comparable. The initial hemostatic success was > 90% in every group. No significant differences between groups were found in any of the following parameters assessed during hospitalization: incidence of rebleeding (I = 14.8% vs. II = 19.0% vs. III = 16.6% vs. IV = 18.1% vs. V = 20.0%; P > 0.05 mean = 17.7%); incidence of definitive hemostasis (I = 89.3% vs. II = 85.7% vs. III = 86.6% vs. IV = 84.0% vs. V = 86.6%; P > 0.05; mean = 86.5%); incidence of emergency surgery (I = 8.5% vs. II = 11.9% vs. III = 10.0% vs. IV = 6.8% vs. V = 11.1%; P > 0.05; mean = 9.6%); mortality rate (I = 4.2% vs. II = 4.7% vs. III = 3.3% vs. IV = 13.6% vs. V = 4.4%; P > 0.05; mean = 6.2%). Mean age of deceased patients was significantly higher than living patients (71.2 +/- 13.4 vs. 60.9 +/- 14.4; P < 0.05). Approximately 2/3 of the fatal cases were strongly weakened by coexistent medical diseases. The duration of hospital stay was similar for all groups. The BICAP group required less units of blood transfusion (1.9 +/- 1.8 vs. I = 3.0 +/- 2.6; III = 3.5 +/- 3.6; IV = 2.8 +/- 2.3; V = 3.1 +/- 2.5; P < 0.05), perhaps due to the higher mean value of hemoglobin of these patients at hospital admission, compared to all other groups. No significant complications were reported.

This study provides good evidence that injection of absolute ethanol, multipolar electrocoagulation (BICAP) and Nd-YAG laser are equally safe and effective in the endoscopic therapy of acute bleeding peptic ulcers. In contrast, no additional hemostatic benefits arose from the association of pharmacological agents (octreotide or omeprazole) to sclerosis injection.