7142 Endoscopic hemoclipping for upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to mallory-weiss syndrome.

Aim: Endoscopic treatment with sclerotherapy or thermal methods has been widely used for upper gastrointestinal (UGI ) bleeding due to Mallory-Weiss syndrome (MWS). However, the potential drawback of thermal methods and the injection of sclerosing agents is that these may cause excessive tissue injury leading to necrosis and perforation. Recently, endoscopic hemoclipping was shown to be highly effective for as a hemostatic treatment for UGI bleeding. Hemoclipping causes less damage to the surrounding area than sclerotherapy or thermal methods. However, the efficacy and safety of hemoclipping for MWS bleeding has not been reported. The aim of the present study was to assess prospectively the usefulness of endoscopic hemoclipping for MWS bleeding. Methods: This prospective study was performed over a 5 year period beginning in January 1994. When patients were diagnosed with MWS by endoscopy , hemoclipping was performed for patients with active bleeding , visible vessel and/or red clots (Group H). The remaining patients with old clots and linear tears in the Esophagogastric junctional (EGJ) mucosa as the only possible origin of bleeding were conservatively treated (Group C). The clinical data and outcome of endoscopic treatment were compared between these two groups. Results: A total of 58 patients underwent emergency endoscopy for UGI bleeding due to MWS from January 1994 to August 1999. During endoscopic examination, active bleeding was found in 17 patients (29%), a visible vessel in one patient (2%) and red clots in 8 patients (14%); Hemoclipping was performed on all 26 patients. Of the remaining 32 patients, 12 patients (21%) had old clots, and 20 (34%) had linear tears without stigmata of recent hemorrhage in the EGJ; these patients did not receive hemoclipping. Significantly more patients in Group H had shock and trasfusional requirements over 800ml than in Group C [the former 4 (17%) vs 0, the latter 4 (17%) vs 0]. The mean hemoglobin level on admission was significantly lower in Group H (10.6±2.9g/dl)than in Group C (12.2±3.0g/dl). Significantly more patients in Group H had critical concomitant diseases than in Group C [14 (54%) vs 8 (25%)]. However, all patients in Group H successfully underwent endoscopic hemostasis with no rebleeding. No patients in Conservative group had rebleeding. No complications related to the endoscopic procedures and no hospital deaths were found in either group. Conclusion : Endoscopic hemoclipping provided an effective and safe modality for securing hemostasis for MWS bleeding.