Nd:YAG laser in treatment of seriously ill patients with gastrointestinal bleeding

Nd:YAG (neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet) laser coagulation was used to treat 30 seriously ill patients with massive or prolonged gastrointestinal bleeding. An average of 7.5 units of blood was given prior to Nd:YAG laser treatment. Twenty patients showed no evidence of continued or recurrent bleeding after laser therapy, four patients rebled after 48 hours, three patients rebled within 48 hours, one patient continued to bleed despite the laser treatment but died of an unrelated cause, one patient required immediate surgery because of inability to control bleeding, and one patient died several hours after control of the bleeding. Although six patients died within 10 weeks, no patient exsanguinated. Nd:YAG laser treatment is a useful modality for controlling severe gastrointestinal bleeding in the seriously ill patient.