Endoscopic clipping for the secondary prophylaxis of bleeding gastric varices in a patient with cirrhosis:A case report

BACKGROUND Bleeding from gastroesophageal varices(GOV)is a serious complication in patients with liver cirrhosis,carrying a very high mortality rate.For secondary prophylaxis against initial and recurrent bleeding,endoscopic therapy is a critical intervention.Endoscopic variceal clipping for secondary prophylaxis in adult GOV has not been reported.CASE SUMMARY A 66-year-old man with cirrhosis was admitted to our hospital complaining of asthenia and hematochezia for 1 wk.His hemoglobin level and red blood cell counts were significantly decreased,and his fecal occult blood test was positive.An enhanced computed tomography of the abdomen showed GOV.The patient was diagnosed with hepatitis B cirrhosis-related GOV bleeding.A series of palliative treatments were administered,resulting in significant clinical improvement.Subsequently,an endoscopic examination revealed severe gastric fundal varices,prompting endoscopic variceal clipping.There were no further episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding.The GOV improved significantly on follow-up imaging and was confirmed as improved on endoscopy at the 5th post-operative month.CONCLUSION Our results suggest that endoscopic clipping is an inexpensive,safe,easy,effective,and tolerable method for the secondary prophylaxis of bleeding from gastric type 2 GOV.However,additional research is indicated to confirm its longterm safety and efficacy.

Efficacy of mucosa-submucosa clip closure method after gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection

BACKGROUND We recently developed a new endoscopic closure technique using only conventional endo-clips for colorectal lesions.Little is known about the feasibility of the endoscopic mucosa-submucosa clip closure method for gastric lesions.AIM To elucidate the efficacy of the endoscopic mucosa-submucosa clip closure method after gastric endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD).METHODS Twenty-two patients who underwent gastric ESD and mucosa-submucosa clip closure were included in this study.In this method,endo-clips are placed at the edges of a mucosal defect.Additional endo-clips are then applied in the same way to facilitate reduction of the defect size.Additional endo-clips are applied to both sides of the mucosal defect.Complete closure can be achieved.We have also developed a“location score”and“closure difficulty index”for assessment purposes.RESULTS Complete closure was achieved in 68.2%of the patients(15/22).The location score in the failure group was significantly larger than that in the complete closure group(P=0.023).The closure difficulty index in the failure group was significantly higher than that in the complete closure group(P=0.007).When the cutoff value of the closure difficulty index was set at 99,the high closure difficulty index predicted failure with a sensitivity of 57.1%,specificity of 100%,and accuracy of 86.3%.CONCLUSION The endoscopic mucosa-submucosa clip closure method was unreliable after gastric ESD,especially in cases with a high closure difficulty index.