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Endoscopy 1988; 20(4): 131-133
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1018156
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Heat Probe Therapy for Severe Hemorrhage from a Peptic Ulcer with a Visible Vessel

H. J. Lin, Y. T. Tsai, S. D. Lee, K. H. Lai, C. H. Lee*
  • *Divisions of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 11217, Republic of China
  • *Departments of Medicine and Surgery, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 11217, Republic of China
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Publication History

Publication Date:
17 March 2008 (online)

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Summary

Over a period of 9 months we treated 50 patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding from a peptic ulcer with a visible vessel. Their mean age was 58.8 years. Almost all cases had massive bleeding and required an average of 1930 ± 2174 ml (S. D.) of blood. Twenty-eight cases were in shock when treated. The lowest mean hemoglobin was 8.2 ± 2.2 gm/dl (S. D.). We treated them with the Olympus GIF-1T10 and the heat probe unit. A total of 825 ± 735 joules (S. D.) were applied to each bleeder. Forty-nine cases (98 %) stopped bleeding after initial treatment. Seven cases (14.3 %) rebled within one week post-treatment. We tried heat probe therapy again in 6 of the cases that rebled, and achieved hemostasis in four of them. Ultimately, only four failures were seen in our study. The success rate was 92 % (46/50). We conclude that thermocoagulation with the heat probe may in the near future replace surgery in the majority of cases of hemorrhage from a peptic ulcer with a visible vessel in its base.

Key words:

Peptic ulcer - Hemorrhage - Heat probe - Therapy