A Ofusu et al. J Clin Gastroenterol 2020. doi:10.1097/MCG.0000000000001379. The Efficacy and Safety of Hemospray for the Management of Gastrointestinal Bleeding

This systematic review and meta-analysis included 19 studies and 814 patients.

• 212 patients were treated with Hemospray as monotherapy
• 602 patients were treated with Hemospray with conventional hemostatic techniques.

Key findings:

• Overall pooled clinical success after the application of Hemospray was 92%
• Overall pooled early rebleeding rates (<7 days) after application of Hemospray was 20%
• Overall pooled delayed rebleeding rates after the application of Hemospray was 23% (<30 days)
• There was no statistical difference in clinical success (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.96-1.08; P=0.34) and early rebleeding (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.75-1.07; P=0.214) in studies that compared the use of Hemospray as monotherapy versus combination therapy with conventional therapy.

Related study: D Chahal et al. Dig Liver Dis 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dld.2020.01.009 Full text: High rate of re-bleeding after application of Hemospray for upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeds Findings (n=86): Immediate hemostasis rate was 88.4%, but there was a high rate of re-bleeding (33.7%). Most re-bleeds occurred within 7 days (86.2%)

My take: Hemospray is effective in achieving immediate hemostasis but there are high rates of rebleeding. It may be eliminated by GI tract in as few as 24 hours after use.  Thus, for lesions at high risk for bleeding, hemospray is likely more of a last resort endoscopic option.

Related blog posts:

• NASPGHAN19 Endoscopy Module Has Hemospray instructions available
• All bleeding stops (part 2)
• All bleeding stops
• Hemospray for GI Bleeding
• Watch the Bleeding Ulcer Stop! | gutsandgrowth
• Transfusion strategy in acute GI bleeding | gutsandgrowth