Endoscopic laser therapy for gastrointestinal bleeding from congenital vascular lesions

Endoscopic laser therapy may be useful in controlling upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to vascular abnormalities. This report presents the case of an 11-year-old boy with an unusual vasculocutaneous disorder complicated by chronic recurrent bleeding that necessitated frequent blood transfusions. Of a number of investigative tests, only endoscopy was diagnostic in determining that the bleeding was secondary to multiple gastric vascular lesions. Moreover, laser photocoagulation of the identified lesions resulted in a dramatic decrease in both transfusion requirements and hospitalization.