dures. Apart from indicat-
ing a larger medical issue,
bleeding can also obscure
visualization during an
endoscopy, leaving your GI
doctors open to the risk of
missing lesions during the
procedure. GI docs usually
try to stop bleeding with
cauterization or by apply-
ing a clip to the problem
ulcer. But this doesn't
always work. A 2010 study
found that initial hemosta-
sis was achieved in 85% to
95% of cases when doctors
used combined endoscop-
ic therapy, including inject-
ing epinephrine, or by ther-
mal and mechanical means. But that still leaves about a 10% risk of
rebleeding.
Now doctors can spray the area of the bleeding with a coagulating
powder that only attaches to areas of bleeding and absorbs water
molecules, essentially helping to form clots at the site of the bleeding,
says Jon Hlivko, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at
Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, Ohio, who calls the
endoscopically-applied powder "immediate hemostasis."
"It creates a matrix when it sprays on the area of bleeding," says
Seth Gross, MD, chief of gastroenterology at Tisch Hospital in New
York, N.Y.
9 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R U Y 2 0 1 8
• ADD-ON Scope add-ons, like electrosurgical knives and suturing devices,
minimize the invasiveness of upper GI procedures.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
