Hemospray (Cook Medical, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA) is a hemostatic agent
recently introduced for the management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB). To
date, there is little experience with this fairly new hemostatic tool. The aim of
this case series was to reflect the use and effectiveness of Hemospray as a treatment
option in GIB in everyday clinical practice at two tertiary referral centers. Consecutive
patients (n = 16) with active GIB of various origins were treated with Hemospray.
The rate of successful initial hemostasis was 93.75 % (15 /16; salvage therapy 92.85 %
[13/14]; monotherapy 100 % [2 /2]). The rebleeding rate within 7 days was 12.5 % (2/16).
One patient, in whom interventional radiology also failed, had to undergo surgery
as salvage therapy. The effectiveness of Hemospray in the management of GIB in various
clinical situations is promising. Future multicenter randomized prospective trials
for clearly defined bleeding situations are needed for greater generalizability of
case series findings.
