Evaluation of hemostasis with soft coagulation using endoscopic hemostatic forceps in comparison with metallic hemoclips for bleeding gastric ulcers: a prospective, randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic high-frequency soft coagulation, recently developed in Japan, is available for the management of gastric bleeding in cases of bleeding gastric ulcers and bleeding during endoscopic submucosal dissection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of hemostasis with soft coagulation for bleeding gastric ulcers by comparing it with hemoclips in a prospective, randomized trial. METHODS: During the period of April 2006 to March 2008, 96 patients that had gastric ulcers with bleeding or nonbleeding visible vessels were enrolled in this study. All of the 96 patients were randomly divided into two groups: endoscopic hemostasis with soft coagulation (Group I) or endoscopic hemoclipping (Group II). RESULTS: A total of 41 (85%) out of 48 patients in Group I and 38 (79%) out of 48 patients in Group II were successfully treated with soft coagulation or clipping alone, respectively. The endoscopic hemostasis rate for the initial modality in combination with another endoscopic procedure performed after the initial method was 98% in both groups. One patient in Group I (2%) and five patients in Group II (10%) experienced recurrent bleeding. The time required to achieve hemostasis was shorter in Group I compared with Group II (9.2 +/- 11.1 vs. 13.6 +/- 9.4 min; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that soft coagulation is as effective as hemoclipping for treating bleeding gastric ulcers. The time required to achieve hemostasis was shorter with the soft coagulation procedure.