New and emerging endoscopic therapies for gastrointestinal bleeding

Purpose of review: To highlight the most recent findings and results of new hemostatic agents for acute bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract of common and less common cause published in the past 12 months. Recent findings: New hemostatic agents have been tested and emerged as promising therapies for acute upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding. These are hemostatic sprays, stents for variceal tamponade and devices for mechanical closure of the gut wall. Summary: Some of these devices are capable to definitively stop a bleeding, others are used as adjuvant to other techniques as bridge to other definitive treatments. All these devices have been tested recently; therefore, more trials are needed to better establish their efficacy and safety.
Source: Current Opinion in Gastroenterology - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: ENDOSCOPY: Edited by Anthony Kalloo Source Type: research