Early Covered Self-Expandable Metal Stent Placement Is Effective for Massive Post-endoscopic Sphincterotomy Bleeding

Placement of covered self-expandable metallic stent (CSEMS) for post-endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) bleeding achieves excellent hemostasis results. Although CSEMS placement is typically performed after failure of conventional endoscopic combination therapy, its excellent outcomes may justify earlier placement.

We aimed to examine the efficacy of "early" CSEMS placement for massive post-ES bleeding.

The medical records of 2750 patients who underwent ES between 2005 and 2019 were reviewed retrospectively, and 61 patients who developed massive post-ES bleeding were enrolled. These patients were divided into those who underwent early CSEMS placement (E-CSEMS group) and those who underwent conventional endoscopic combination therapy (Conventional group). The outcomes of hemostasis procedures were compared between the groups.

The primary success rates of endoscopic hemostasis were 100% (21/21) and 98% (39/40) in the E-CSEMS group and Conventional group, respectively, without significant differences (P = 1.000). However, in the E-CSEMS group, re-bleeding was significantly less frequent (5% vs. 31%; P = 0.023), the median hemostasis procedure time was significantly shorter (14 min vs. 26 min; P < 0.001), and transfusion after initial hemostasis treatment was less commonly required (10% vs. 38%; P = 0.034). Multivariate analyses showed that hemodialysis was associated with a significantly higher re-bleeding rate (P = 0.029), while CSEMS placement was associated with a significantly lower re-bleeding rate (P = 0.039).

Early CSEMS placement may be effective for improving the clinical outcomes of massive post-ES bleeding by decreasing re-bleeding and the extent of bleeding.