Endoclips vs large or small-volume epinephrine in peptic ulcer recurrent bleeding

AIM:To compare the recurrent bleeding after endoscopic injection of different epinephrine volumes with hemoclips in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer.METHODS:Between January 2005 and December 2009,150 patients with gastric or duodenal bleeding ulcer with major stigmata of hemorrhage and nonbleeding visible vessel in an ulcer bed(Forrest Ⅱa) were included in the study.Patients were randomized to receive a small-volume epinephrine group(15 to 25 mL injection group;Group 1,n = 50),a large-volume epinephrine group(30 to 40 mL injection group;Group 2,n = 50) and a hemoclip group(Group 3,n = 50).The rate of recurrent bleeding,as the primary outcome,was compared between the groups of patients included in the study.Secondary outcomes compared between the groups were primary hemostasis rate,permanent hemostasis,need for emergency surgery,30 d mortality,bleeding-related deaths,length of hospital stay and transfusion requirements.RESULTS:Initial hemostasis was obtained in all patients.The rate of early recurrent bleeding was 30%(15/50) in the small-volume epinephrine group(Group 1) and 16%(8/50) in the large-volume epinephrine group(Group 2)(P = 0.09).The rate of recurrent bleeding was 4%(2/50) in the hemoclip group(Group 3);the difference was statistically significant with regard to patients treated with either small-volume or large-volume epinephrine solution(P = 0.0005 and P = 0.045,respectively).Duration of hospital stay was significantly shorter among patients treated with hemoclips than among patients treated with epinephrine whereas there were no differences in transfusion requirement or even 30 d mortality between the groups.CONCLUSION:Endoclip is superior to both small and large volume injection of epinephrine in the prevention of recurrent bleeding in patients with peptic ulcer.

Scoring systems for peptic ulcer bleeding: which one to use?

AIM To compare the Glasgow-Blatchford score(GBS), Rockall score(RS) and Baylor bleeding score(BBS) in predicting clinical outcomes and need for interventions in patients with bleeding peptic ulcers. METHODS Between January 2008 and December 2013, 1012consecutive patients admitted with peptic ulcer bleeding(PUB) were prospectively followed. The pre-endoscopic RS, BBS and GBS, as well as the post-endoscopic diagnostic scores(RS and BBS) were calculated for all patients according to their urgent upper endoscopy findings. Area under the receiver-operating characteristics(AUROC) curves were calculated for the prediction of lethal outcome, rebleeding, needs for blood transfusion and/or surgical intervention, and the optimal cutoff values were evaluated.RESULTS PUB accounted for 41.9% of all upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding, 5.2% patients died and 5.4% patients underwent surgery. By comparing the AUROC curves of the aforementioned pre-endoscopic scores, the RS best predicted lethal outcome(AUROC 0.82 vs 0.67 vs0.63, respectively), but the GBS best predicted need for hospital-based intervention or 30-d mortality(AUROC0.84 vs 0.57 vs 0.64), rebleeding(AUROC 0.75 vs 0.61 vs 0.53), need for blood transfusion(AUROC 0.83 vs0.63 vs 0.58) and surgical intervention(0.82 vs 0.63 vs 0.52) The post-endoscopic RS was also better than the post-endoscopic BBS in predicting lethal outcome(AUROC 0.82 vs 0.69, respectively).CONCLUSION The RS is the best predictor of mortality and the GBS is the best predictor of rebleeding, need for blood transfusion and/or surgical intervention in patients with PUB. There is no one 'perfect score' and we suggest that these two tests be used concomitantly.

Expression of adipokine ghrelin and ghrelin receptor in human colorectal adenoma and correlation with the grade of dysplasia

BACKGROUNDGhrelin is an adipokine that plays an important role in energy balance. Expressionof ghrelin and ghrelin receptor has been investigated in different tissues andtumors. Studies regarding expression of ghrelin and ghrelin receptor in colorectaltumors are scarce and no data on expression of ghrelin and its receptor incolorectal adenomas has been published. Ghrelin and ghrelin receptor werehighly expressed in colon carcinoma cells while expression was decreased in lessdifferentiated tumors, presuming that ghrelin might be important in early phasesof tumorigenesis.AIMTo investigate the expression of ghrelin and ghrelin receptor in human colorectaladenomas and adjacent colorectal tissue.METHODSIn this prospective study (conducted from June 2015 until May 2019) we included92 patients (64 male and 28 female) who underwent polypectomy for colorectaladenomas in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, “Sestre milosrdnice” Clinical Hospital Center in Zagreb, Croatia. After endoscopicremoval of colorectal adenoma, an additional sample of colon mucosa in theproximity of the adenoma was collected for pathohistological analysis. Adenomaswere graded according to the stage of dysplasia, and ghrelin and ghrelin receptorexpression were determined immunohistochemically in both adenoma andadjacent colon tissue using the polyclonal antibody for ghrelin (ab150514,ABCAM Inc, Cambridge, United States) and ghrelin receptor (ab48285, ABCAMInc, Cambridge, United States). Categorical and nominal variables were describedthrough frequencies and proportions and the difference between specific groupswere analyzed with Fisher’s and Fisher-Freeman-Halton’s method respectively.Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was determined for correlation ofexpression of ghrelin and ghrelin receptor in adenoma and adjacent colon tissuewith the grade of adenoma dysplasia.RESULTSAmong 92 patients with colorectal adenoma 43 had adenomas with high-gradedysplasia (46.7%). High expression of ghrelin was 7 times more common in highgradeadenoma compared to low-grade adenomas (13.95% to 2.04%, P = 0.048),while the expression of ghrelin in adjacent colon tissue was low. We found nocorrelation between ghrelin receptor expression in adenoma and adjacent colontissue and the grade of colorectal adenoma dysplasia. The most significantcorrelation was found between ghrelin and ghrelin receptor expression inadenomas with high-grade dysplasia (rho = 0.519, P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONGhrelin and ghrelin receptor are expressed in colorectal adenoma and adjacenttissue with ghrelin expression being more pronounced in high grade dysplasia asa possible consequence of increased local synthesis.