Endoscopic ligation for patients with active bleeding Mallory-Weiss tears.
BACKGROUND
Only a few patients with active nonesophageal variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding have been treated with endoscopic ligation. To further address this issue, four patients with active bleeding Mallory-Weiss tears who underwent endoscopic band ligation are presented.


METHODS
Endoscopic ligation was performed in four patients with a median age of 52 years (range, 40-93 years) after a diagnosis of active bleeding Mallory-Weiss tears (MWTs). A 45-year-old man with massive persistent upper gastrointestinal bleeding as a cause of a MWT underwent therapeutical endoscopic band ligation after an unsuccessful endoscopic injection trial. On the contrary, injection therapy should have been performed on a 93-year-old woman with multiple myeloma because of an actively bleeding MWT caused by the fibrotic tissue after an unsuccessful endoscopic ligation trial, although her other actively bleeding MWT lesion had been ligated successfully.


RESULTS
After endoscopic ligation, all patients achieved complete hemostasis, and rebleeding did not occur. They were discharged without complications after a control endoscopy.


CONCLUSIONS
Endoscopic ligation can be performed easily and without any complications such as perforation or delayed hemorrhage in patients with actively bleeding nonfibrotic MWTs.
Gunay
K
K
Emergency Surgery Service, Department of General Surgery, Istanbul Medical School, University of Istanbul, Capa Istanbul 34390, Turkey.
Cabioglu
N
N
Barbaros
U
U
Taviloglu
K
K
Ertekin
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008026:Ligation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008309:Mallory-Weiss Syndrome / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged