Efficacy of endoscopic pure ethanol injection method for gastrointestinal ulcer bleeding

We reviewed endoscopic hemostatic effects of the pure ethanol injection (PEI) method for reducting emergency operations and deaths due to gastroduodenal ulcer bleeding. During 17 years beginning in June 1979 in Tohoku University Hospital, 331 patients underwent endoscopic hemostasis by the PEI method. Initial hemostasis was successfully obtained in all cases. Rebleeding occurred in about 4% of the patients, and rehemostasis was obtained successfully in all of them. Complete hemostasis was obtained in 330 of 331 patients (99.7%) using the PEI method; there were no deaths. Only one patient required emergency operation after hemostasis because of repeated neogenetic bleeding complicated with a perforation and another because of an unidentifiable neogenetic ulcer bleeding located just above the Vater papilla. None required other endoscopic hemostasis or interventional radiology. Moreover, after introduction of "second-look" endoscopy, the rebleeding rate decreased to about 1% with PEI hemostasis. Based on these excellent hemostatic effects of the PEI method, we believe that a comparative study with other hemostatic methods is not needed.