Bleeding After Endoscopic Procedures in Patients With Chronic Hematologic Thrombocytopenia

Procedure-induced bleeding is a major complication after endoscopic intervention.

The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of endoscopy-related bleeding in patients with chronic hematologic thrombocytopenia.

We investigated endoscopy-related bleeding in 175 procedures performed on 108 patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura or aplastic anemia. The outcomes were compared with those of 350 procedures on age-, sex-, and procedure-matched control subjects. Endoscopic interventions included low-risk procedures such as endoscopic biopsy and high-risk procedures including polypectomy, endoscopic resection, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram with sphincterotomy.

Bleeding occurred in 17 (9.7%) procedures among the patients with thrombocytopenia. This rate was significantly higher than that in procedures on controls (3.1%, P = 0.003). About 60% of all bleeding events were observed within 24 h after the endoscopic procedure. Bleeding after endoscopic biopsy developed more frequently in the patient group than in the control group (7.1 vs. 0.7%; P < 0.001). Bleeding occurred after 20% of all high-risk procedures. The incidence of bleeding was significantly elevated in patients with a platelet count less than 50 × 10³/μl. Multivariate analysis revealed that high-risk procedures and low platelet count (less than 50 × 10³/μl) were significantly related to procedure-related bleeding. All bleeding events stopped spontaneously or were controlled with endoscopic hemostasis.

Endoscopic procedure-related bleeding develops frequently in patients with chronic hematologic thrombocytopenia. Post-procedural bleeding should be observed carefully in these patients, especially when the platelet count is less than 50 × 10³/μl or high-risk endoscopic procedures are planned.