Management of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage

Management of acute variceal bleeding using hemostatic powder

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to test the safety and efficacy of Hemospray® for emergency control of acute variceal bleeding (AVB) due to portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This single-arm, prospective trial, conducted at two hospitals in Belgium and Egypt, included patients admitted to the emergency room with hematemesis and/or melena and known or suspected liver cirrhosis. All patients received urgent hemodynamic stabilization, octreotide (50 mcg bolus then 25 mcg/hour for 24 hours) and intravenous ceftriaxone (1 g/hour). Endoscopy to confirm AVB and Hemospray® application (if indicated) was performed within six hours of admission. Patients were kept under observation for 24 hours and underwent second endoscopy and definitive therapy (band ligation and/or cyanoacrylate injection in cases of gastric varices) the next day.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight patients were admitted for suspected AVB, and 30 of these had confirmed AVB (70% male; mean age 59.5 years (range, 32.0-73 years)). Child-Pugh class C liver disease was present in 53.4%. Esophageal varices were observed in 83.4% of patients, gastric varices in 10%, and duodenal varices in 6.6%. Spurting bleeding at the time of endoscopy was observed in 43.4%. One patient developed hematemesis six hours after Hemospray® application and underwent emergency endoscopic band ligation. No major adverse events or mortalities were observed during 15-day follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Hemospray® application was safe and effective at short-term follow-up for emergency treatment of AVB in cirrhotic patients.

Intravenous proton pump inhibition utilization and prescribing patterns escalation: a comparison between early and current trends in use

BACKGROUND

Approved indications of intravenous (i.v.) proton pump inhibition (PPI) are limited to treatment of reflux esophagitis in patients unable to tolerate oral medications and for patients with pathologic hypersecretory states.

OBJECTIVES

i.v. PPIs are commonly used after endoscopic evaluation of patients with high-risk endoscopic stigmata (HRES) of nonvariceal upper GI bleeding (NVUGIB). There appears to have been an expansion of indications of this drug at many centers.

DESIGN

All consecutive patients receiving i.v. PPI (pantoprazole) between 2 study periods, (1) when pantoprazole was restricted to the gastroenterology service and (2) when it was unrestricted, were reviewed.

SETTING

Tertiary care university hospital.

PATIENTS

All receiving i.v. PPI.

INTERVENTIONS

i.v. PPI utilization.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS

Percentage of patients receiving i.v. PPI for indications other than bleeding during 2 time periods.

RESULTS

In the early period, 217 patients (67.30% male) received i.v. PPI on 218 occasions compared with 516 patients (65.31% male, P= .61) in the later period on 613 occasions. In the early group, 93.12% of 217 patients received i.v. PPI for NVUGIB compared with 56.12% of 516 patients (P< .0001) with 18% of patients receiving i.v. PPI for nothing by mouth status and 13% for abdominal pain in the later group. A total of 153 (70.18%) patients in the early group underwent upper endoscopy compared with only 275 (44.86%) patients in the later group; 84 of these 153 patients (54.90%) were already on i.v. PPI at the time of endoscopy in the early group compared with 253 (92.00%, P< .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

i.v. PPI use has escalated at our hospital and is being prescribed in patients before endoscopy with fewer patients noted to have HRES on endoscopy.

Clinical features and management of postoperative pouch bleeding after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA)

AIM

The clinical features of postoperative bleeding from the ileal pouch-anal anastomosis(IPAA) vary and its management can be difficult. There is no published literature regarding pouch bleeding and its treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Pouch bleeding was defined as the passage of blood or clots transanally or into the ileostomy bag with or without hypotension or a drop in hemoglobin within 30 days after surgery. Patients were identified from a prospectively maintained pouch database.

RESULTS

Pouch bleeding developed in 47 (1.5%) patients out of 3,194 patients undergoing IPAA since 1983. Forty-two patients had inflammatory bowel disease, four had familial adenomatous polyposis, and one had colonic inertia. Sixty-six percent of bleeding occurred within 7 days postoperatively and 59.6% required transfusion; 72.3% patients developed transanal bleeding, nine from ileostomy and two from both. After initial fluid resuscitation, five patients were observed while 28 patients had pouch endoscopy and clot evacuation followed by cauterization or epinephrine(1:100,000) enemas, 27 of these had cessation within 24 h. Epinephrine enema was used as initial treatment in the remaining 12 patients. Overall success rate of epinephrine enema was 96%.

CONCLUSION

Postoperative pouch bleeding after IPAA is uncommon, and it usually requires nonsurgical intervention. Epinephrine enema appears to be successful in managing this complication.

Perioperative acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage in older patients with hip fracture: incidence, risk factors and prevention

BACKGROUND

No specific preventive strategy exists for acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage in hip fracture patients.

AIMS

To determine the effectiveness of prophylactic use of proton pump inhibitors in patients with risk factors for acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage.

METHODS

Prospective two-stage study of 822 consecutive older (> or =60 years) hip fracture patients.

RESULTS

Acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage occurred in 16 (3.9%) of 407 patients and was associated with increased length of hospital stay (28.7 vs. 15.9; P = 0.0027) and mortality (18.8% vs. 4.3%; P = 0.043). Multiple analysis identified five independent risk factors for acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage: pre-existing peptic ulcer (OR 4.3; P = 0.043), current smoking (OR 3.1; P = 0.023), post-operative use of an antiplatelet agent (OR 6.5; P = 0.046), post-operative use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug/cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor (OR 4.9; P = 0.06) and blood group O (OR 1.7; P = 0.046). These risk factors were highly sensitive and had a negative predictive value of 99.8%. Prophylactic use of proton pump inhibitors in patients with risk factor for acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage significantly reduced the incidence of this complication (0.72% in treated patients vs. 13.4% in untreated; P < 0.001); the number needed to treat was 7.9. Conclusions In older hip fracture patients perioperative acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage occurs in 3.9% and is associated with poor outcome. Preventive proton pump inhibitor therapy in patients at risk of acute gastrointestinal haemorrhage is effective and safe.