Project description:This study aimed to test the safety and efficacy of Hemospray® for emergency control of acute variceal bleeding (AVB) due to portal hypertension in cirrhotic patients.This single-arm, prospective trial, conducted at two hospitals in Belgium and Egypt, included patients admitted to the emergency room with hematemesis and/or melena and known or suspected liver cirrhosis. All patients received urgent hemodynamic stabilization, octreotide (50 mcg bolus then 25?mcg/hour for 24 hours) and intravenous ceftriaxone (1?g/hour). Endoscopy to confirm AVB and Hemospray® application (if indicated) was performed within six hours of admission. Patients were kept under observation for 24 hours and underwent second endoscopy and definitive therapy (band ligation and/or cyanoacrylate injection in cases of gastric varices) the next day.Thirty-eight patients were admitted for suspected AVB, and 30 of these had confirmed AVB (70% male; mean age 59.5 years (range, 32.0-73 years)). Child-Pugh class C liver disease was present in 53.4%. Esophageal varices were observed in 83.4% of patients, gastric varices in 10%, and duodenal varices in 6.6%. Spurting bleeding at the time of endoscopy was observed in 43.4%. One patient developed hematemesis six hours after Hemospray® application and underwent emergency endoscopic band ligation. No major adverse events or mortalities were observed during 15-day follow-up.Hemospray® application was safe and effective at short-term follow-up for emergency treatment of AVB in cirrhotic patients.
Project description:BackgroundGastrointestinal tumor bleeding remains a clinical challenge because it is difficult to treat with conventional endoscopic hemostatic options. Recently, an endoscopic hemostatic powder (UI-EWD) was developed and reported to provide effective control of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The aim of current study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of this novel hemostatic powder in tumor bleeding.MethodsA total of 41 consecutive patients with upper gastrointestinal tumor bleeding were included. UI-EWD was applied in all patients as an auxiliary hemostatic method as a salvage therapy or monotherapy during endoscopic treatment. Hemostasis success rates, adverse event related to UI-EWD, and rates of re-bleeding were evaluated.ResultsIn all cases, UI-EWD application was successful at tumor bleeding sites. Immediate hemostasis occurred in 40/41 (97.5%) patients, and re-bleeding within 28 days occurred in 10 of 40 (22.5%) patients that achieved initial hemostasis. The success rate of immediate hemostasis for UI-EWD monotherapy was 100% (23/23). The re-bleeding rate at 28 days after UI-EWD monotherapy was 26.1% (6/23). No adverse events associated with UI-EWD application were encountered.ConclusionsThe success rate of UI-EWD for immediate hemostasis in cases of GI tumor bleeding was excellent and UI-EWD produced promising results with respect to the prevention of re-bleeding. Based on these results, we suggest that UI-EWD be considered an effective salvage therapy or even monotherapy for GI tumor bleeding.
Project description:This study investigated the effectiveness of new hemostatic adhesive powder (UI-EWD) in a swine mode of acute gastric bleeding. Gastric ulcer bleeding was induced endoscopically at two locations in each of eight heparinized mini-pigs. UI-EWD and saline were sprayed endoscopically in the experimental (n = 5) and control groups (n = 3), respectively. The hemostatic effect and hydrogel persistence on ulcers were periodically evaluated endoscopically. Initial hemostasis was achieved successfully in all lesions in the experimental group. Follow-up endoscopy showed minor delayed bleeding in 10% at 6 hours in the experimental group, whereas re-bleeding was observed in 50% at 6 hours in the control group. UI-EWD gel persisted at 90%, 80%, and 50% of ulcer bases at 6, 18, and 42 hours post-application, respectively. This study suggests that muco-adhesive UI-EWD may be effective in the endoscopic treatment of active ulcer bleeding.
Project description:Bleeding complications arising from trauma, surgery, and as congenital, disease-associated, or drug-induced blood disorders can cause significant morbidities and mortalities in civilian and military populations. Therefore, stoppage of bleeding (hemostasis) is of paramount clinical significance in prophylactic, surgical, and emergency scenarios. For externally accessible injuries, a variety of natural and synthetic biomaterials have undergone robust research, leading to hemostatic technologies including glues, bandages, tamponades, tourniquets, dressings, and procoagulant powders. In contrast, treatment of internal noncompressible hemorrhage still heavily depends on transfusion of whole blood or blood's hemostatic components (platelets, fibrinogen, and coagulation factors). Transfusion of platelets poses significant challenges of limited availability, high cost, contamination risks, short shelf-life, low portability, performance variability, and immunological side effects, while use of fibrinogen or coagulation factors provides only partial mechanisms for hemostasis. With such considerations, significant interdisciplinary research endeavors have been focused on developing materials and technologies that can be manufactured conveniently, sterilized to minimize contamination and enhance shelf-life, and administered intravenously to mimic, leverage, and amplify physiological hemostatic mechanisms. Here, a comprehensive review regarding the various topical, intracavitary, and intravenous hemostatic technologies in terms of materials, mechanisms, and state-of-art is provided, and challenges and opportunities to help advancement of the field are discussed.
Project description:BackgroundAppropriate blood component transfusion might differ between intraoperative massive bleeding and traumatic massive bleeding in the emergency department because trauma patients initially bleed undiluted blood and replacement typically lags behind blood loss. We compared these two blood loss scenarios, intraoperative and traumatic, using a computer simulation.MethodsWe modified the multi-compartment dynamic model developed by Hirshberg and implemented it using STELLA 9.0. In this model, blood pressure changes as blood volume fluctuates as bleeding rate and transcapillary refill rate are controlled by blood pressure. Using this simulation, we compared the intraoperative bleeding scenario with the traumatic bleeding scenario. In both scenarios, patients started to bleed at a rate of 50 ml/min. In the intraoperative bleeding scenario, fluid was administered to maintain isovolemic status; however, in the traumatic bleeding scenario, no fluid was supplied for up to 30 min and no blood was supplied for up to 50 min. Each unit of packed red blood cells (PRBC) was given when the hematocrit decreased to 27%, fresh frozen plasma (FFP) was transfused when plasma was diluted to 30%, and platelet concentrate (PC) was transfused when platelet count became 50,000/ml.ResultsIn both scenarios, the appropriate ratio of PRBC:FFP was 1:0.47 before PC transfusion, and the ratio of PRBC:FFP:platelets was 1:0.35:0.39 after initiation of PC transfusion.ConclusionThe ratio of transfused blood component did not differ between the intraoperative bleeding and traumatic bleeding scenarios.
Project description:Acute gastrointestinal bleeding (AGIB) is a prevalent condition with significant influence on healthcare costs. Endoscopy is essential for the management of AGIB with a pivotal role in diagnosis, risk stratification and management. Recently, hemostatic powders have been added to our endoscopic armamentarium to treat gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. These substances are intended to control active bleeding by delivering a powdered product over the bleeding site that forms a solid matrix with a tamponade function. Local activation of platelet aggregation and coagulation cascade may be also boosted. There are currently three powders commercially available: hemostatic agent TC-325 (Hemospray(®)), EndoClot™ polysaccharide hemostatic system, and Ankaferd Bloodstopper(®). Although the available evidence is based on short series of cases and there is no randomized controlled trial yet, these powders seem to be effective in controlling GI bleeding from a variety of origins with a very favorable side effects profile. They can be used either as a primary therapy or a second-line treatment, and they seem to be especially indicated in cases of cancer-related bleeding and lesions with difficult access. In this review, we will comment on the mechanism of action, efficacy, safety and technical challenges of the use of powders in several clinical scenarios and we will try to define the main current indications of use and propose new lines of research in this area.
Project description:A new sanitation technology has been proposed in which a laminated hydrophobic membrane contains and enhances drying of fecal sludge in a toilet, with particular focus on application to urban regions of low-income countries. The proposed technology uses a laminated hydrophobic membrane liner as an integral component of container-based sanitation systems. The focus of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the laminate's clogging after repeated use, which will affect replacement interval and might limit the laminate's application in container-based toilets. The membrane of the laminated hydrophobic membrane used in this process is hydrophobic and only allows vapor transport. Drying of water vapor using the laminated hydrophobic membrane occurs due to moderate temperature or humidity gradients, while other constituents such as aqueous dissolved solutes of fecal sludge are retained. Controlled laboratory experiments evaluated repeated use of a laminated hydrophobic membrane for fecal sludge drying, with mild brushing/rinsing of the laminate between each application. Drying occurred at a constant rate as long as the fecal sludge moisture content exceeded 11.6 (g/g), below which water activity <1. Over five drying cycles, at a significance level of ??=?0.05 the dimensionless drying rate in the constant-rate period was not reduced. While scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analyses of used laminated hydrophobic membrane showed deposition of fecal sludge on the inner fabric of the laminate, particulate accumulation was never sufficient to alter the fecal sludge drying rate. Experiments with only water indicated that the fecal sludge increased the effective diffusion length through the laminate by 10-30%. These data demonstrate that clogging of the laminated hydrophobic membrane is minor over five cycles of fecal sludge drying with mild rinsing between cycles, indicating that use of the laminate may be feasible in many field applications.