Strategies that Reduce Post-endoscopic Submucosal Dissection Bleeding

Abstract

Bleeding after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), one of the most common postprocedural adverse events, is the main cause of increased readmission rates and hospital costs. Generally, the incidence of post-ESD bleeding is estimated to be about 5%. However, the incidence of bleeding is particularly increased in high-risk patients. In particular, it has an incidence of over 50% in patients that use antithrombotic agents. The well-known risk factors for post-ESD bleeding include antithrombotic therapy, lesions in the proximal stomach, specimen size >4 cm, and concomitant renal disease. Currently, the number of patients at a high risk of post-ESD bleeding has been increasing. This may be due to the aging society and the increase in the usage of antithrombotic agents. Therefore, several strategies have been employed to prevent post-ESD bleeding. These strategies include acid inhibition therapy, preventive hemostasis using Doppler endoscopic ultrasound and artery-selective clipping, second look endoscopy, the closings method, and the shield methods. However, these methods are technically demanding, which hinders their wide usage in clinical practice. Recently, several hemostatic powders have been developed and clinically used in the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding. In this article, we review the risk factors for post-ESD bleeding and the recently introduced prevention methods. Moreover, we aimed to explore realistic and appropriate strategies for the prevention of post-ESD bleeding.