[Control of upper digestive tract hemorrhage with Nd-Yag laser]

Among the emergency procedures in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding the endoscopy is the most accurate; it will establish the diagnosis in about 95% of the cases, before an adequate treatment can be prescribed. Several endoscopic techniques have been employed to control the bleeding and laser photocoagulation, which applies luminous energy, restrain the bleeding. Nd-Yag laser photocoagulation was used in a retrospective study of 217 patients with active upper gastrointestinal bleeding. In all of the cases the bleeding was controlled at the moment of the endoscopic procedure. In 29 patients the hemorrhage recurred, mostly due to diffuse lesions like gastritis duodenitis of esophageal varices and only 18 of these patients required emergency surgery. There were no complications with the procedure. According to these results the Nd-Yag laser photocoagulation is an effective procedure for control of the upper gastrointestinal bleeding. It avoids emergency surgery and, if surgery is required later, the patients will be in better conditions. Gastrointestinal Bleeding, emergency endoscopy, Nd-Yag Laser, photocoagulation.