Comparison of Endoscopic Injection of Conventional and Double Doses Cyanoacrylate for Gastric Variceal Hemorrhage

Taipei Veterans General Hospital

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 4

Conditions

Gastric Variceal Bleeding

Treatments

Procedure: Cyanoacrylate

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00735358

95DHA0100359

Details and patient eligibility

About

The recent practice guideline recommends endoscopic injection of cyanoacrylate (GVO) is the preferred method to treat acute gastric variceal bleeding. The rebleeding rate remains high following GVO.We hypothesized that a double-dose of cyanoacrylate may obliterate the varices more effectively and achieve better hemostasis.

Full description

Although outcome of variceal hemorrhage has been improved in the last two decades, variceal hemorrhage is still the most serious complication of portal hypertension and chronic liver disease. Occurrence of gastric varices (GV) rupture is less often than esophageal varices (EV) but it is characteristic of higher rebleeding rate and mortality and represents an even tougher problem than EV hemorrhage. Facing these challenges, there is no consensus on the best treatment of GV hemorrhage and therefore it is mainly empirical. Endoscopic treatment is an alternative in the management of GVH. Injection sclerotherapy has been applied to arrest GV hemorrhage but it is associated with a high rebleeding rate (50~90%) and thus is regarded as only a temporary hemostatic measure. The advantage of endoscopic variceal ligation for EV hemorrhage has been documented, however, endoscopic variceal ligation for GVH is not as promising because of its high rebleeding rate around 50%. Endoscopic injection of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate, a so-called "tissue glue", was more effective for GV hemorrhage than other sclerosants and endoscopic ligation, however, its rebleeding rate is still high around 30~50%. The theoretical advantages of tissue glue derives from its unique ability to plug the varix lumen immediately. Each injection of tissue glue in conventional use was usually prepared by a mixture of 0.5 ml cyanoacrylate and 0.5 ml Lipiodol. Therefore, we hypothesized that double dose cyanoacrylate (1 ml cyanoacrylate mixed with 1 ml Lipiodal) may obliterate the varices in further distance and broader area and that may achieve more effective hemostatic results than conventional dose. Therefore we designed a randomized trial to test the hypothesis.

Enrollment

105 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 80 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patients with liver cirrhosis and/or hepatoma
Aged 18 to 80, who had endoscopy-proven acute GVB
Clinical signs of hematemesis, coffee ground vomitus, hematochezia, or melena
Endoscopic signs of active bleeding from the GV
Adherent blood clots, white nipple signs, or erosions on the GV
The presence of distinct large GV with red-color signs and absence of EV and other bleeding sources
Who or their legally authorized representatives gave informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Patients had previous endoscopic, surgical treatment or transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) for GVB
Had a terminal illness of any major organ system, such as heart failure, uremia, chronic pulmonary disease, or non-hepatic malignancy.