A General Overview of Teatment Techniques — Panel Discussion

Although there is a considerable amount of information in the experimental animal literature about the methods for laser photo-coagulation of gastrointestinal bleeding, there is some variance among techniques of clinical investigators. Validity of the animal model has been challenged since some of that work was done with hand held lasers rather than with endoscopically delivered laser energy. Additionally, many of the animal bleeding lesions that were produced were made with the standard “ulcer-maker” and this produces a lesion which may be very different than the standard ulcer in humans. Finally, there are no controlled studies showing comparative techniques during treatment of gastrintestinal bleeding in humans. For these reasons it was felt that a roundtable discussion by a group of experienced laser endoscopists might be valuable.