Endoscopic Hemospray in childhood GI bleeding
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The use and safety of a novel haemostatic spray (Hemospray) in the endoscopic management of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding in children
IRAS ID
151059
Contact name
Mike Thomson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Research summary
The problem of bleeding from the stomach and small bowel is a potentially fatal one in children. The skills available to treat this are complex and difficult to master via the tool called an endoscope – a long tube with a camera at the end through which instruments can be passed to administer treatment such as cautery and injection of substances to stop bleeding. If not treated quickly and effectively it can rapidly lead to death. A new endoscopic treatment involving an easy-to-use spray which causes coagulation of the bleeding area has the potential to markedly lower the threshold for the skill required by an operator conducting an endoscopy in such a situation, in order to treat this effectively and safely. In addition many such cases arise from widespread bleeding from the stomach or intestine – in other words these cases are not easily treated with the technology available via an endoscope - which are currently very good at treating bleeding from small areas but not from diffuse wide areas. Large adult studies are now available which show the safety and treatment efficacy for this new technique. No side effects have been reported. Training is easy and the learning curve is a very fast one.
In other words the problem in children, which is not yet quantified but probably is around 200-300 children a year in the UK who could die from this emergency, remains, with current technology, a significant one. Any technique which may improve this in the ways outlined above is a potential life-saving one.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/YH/1023
Date of REC Opinion
14 Aug 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion