Active clinical trials for "Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage"

The investigators hypothesize that octreotide LAR (Long Acting Release) safely decreases GI bleeding in patients with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Patients undergoing implantation of non-pulsatile, continuous-flow LVAD have a higher incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding. This is a significantly associated morbidity and can threaten a patient's life as well as their ability to undergo eventual heart transplantation secondary to both general health/strength and the potential development of antibodies to blood products that would make future transfusions and transplantations more difficult. If this research finds that use of octreotide LAR can decrease the incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding in this patient population, it will revolutionize the manner in which these patients are managed. The finding of reduced GI bleeding would allow the patient to have less exposure to blood products, reduce hospitalizations, and ensure that subsequent transplant planning not be delayed. This would not only be of great benefit to the patient, but would significantly decrease health-care costs through preventive measures. The goal of this project is to study whether the regular administration of monthly octreotide LAR is safe and if it will decrease the incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients undergoing implantation of non-pulsatile, continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (LVAD).

Gastric lavage is usually used for gastric preparation before endoscopy in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. However, the benefit-risk balance of putting a nasogastric tube in these patients is not clearly defined. This randomized trial is aimed to determine if the use of erythromycin IV before endoscopy could avoid to put a gastric tube for the management of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

To evaluate if intravenous PPI infusion, when administered prior to endoscopy, hastens resolution of bleeding stigmata and thereby facilitates endoscopic examinations and reduces the need for endoscopic treatment. Clot stabilization may itself sustain control of bleeding before endoscopy. These may translate into improved patients'outcome and survival. To determine the therapeutic effect of high-dose PPI infusion in upper gastrointestinal bleeding from causes other than peptic ulcers.

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a common medical emergency. Bleeding peptic ulcers and other non-variceal causes constitute to about 95% of all cases of bleeding. Endoscopic treatment stops active bleeding, reduces rate of further bleeding and leads to improved patients outcomes. Endoscopic treatment can be technically demanding especially with lesions in difficult anatomic positions and to endoscopists with less experience. TC-325 is a propriety mineral blend hemostatic powder used to compress external civilian and military traumatic injuries. Investigators reported the first endoscopic application of TC-325 in 20 patients with actively bleeding gastro-duodenal ulcers. Investigators were able to stop bleeding in 19 of them. Subsequent case series from others reported a similar rate in the acute control of bleeding. To further define the role of TC-325 as a mono-therapy, a comparison to the current standard in endoscopic treatment is required. A non-inferiority randomized trial is being proposed to compare endoscopic use of TC-325 as a mono-therapy to current standards (i.e. hemoclips or thermo-coagulation with or without pre-injection with diluted epinephrine) in hemostatic treatment in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding from non-variceal causes. The non-inferiority primary endpoint is control of bleeding over 30 days from randomization. Other outcome endpoints include further endoscopic, angiographic or surgical treatments, hospitalization, blood transfusion and mortality. Investigators also compare ease of therapy measured by procedure time and a 10 cm visual analogue scale rated by endoscopists. Endoscopic application of TC-325 is a simple and less skill dependent technique. It may prove useful in bleeding from anatomically challenging sites of the gastro-duodenal tract.

This double-blind, randomized trial aims to evaluate whether uninterrupted anti-platelet therapy (clopidogrel) will increase the risk of bleeding associated with removal of polyp during colonoscopy in patients with coronary artery disease.

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding is a common medical problem. When patients with gastrointestinal bleeding present with melena (dark, tarry stool) the blood loss is usually originating in the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach or duodenum) and first step in evaluating the patient is an upper endoscopy; which allows direct visualization of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. However, the cause of bleeding is located in the small bowel or colon in 20-30% of patients who present with melena. Traditionally colonoscopy has been the next test preformed if upper endoscopy does not identify the cause of melena/ gastrointestinal bleeding, however less than 25% of patients who present with melena have bleeding originating in the colon, and the remainder of patients have bleeding originating in the small intestine, which can only be fully evaluated with video capsule endoscopy (a pill camera which is swallowed and takes pictures while it travels thought the small bowel and colon). Currently patients only undergo video capsule endoscopy if colonoscopy does not identify the cause of bleeding. The investigators are preforming a randomized study which seeks to determine if colonoscopy or video capsule endoscopy is a better way to identify the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients who present with melena and have normal findings on upper endoscopy. To do this the investigators will enroll patients who present with melena prior to their upper endoscopy and if the cause of bleeding is not identified at that time patients will be randomized to video capsule endoscopy (with the capsule being placed into the small bowel during the upper endoscopy) or next day colonoscopy.

In the management of patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding from non-variceal causes, endoscopic treatment and acid suppression are now the standard of care. Current endoscopic treatment in the form of either thermo-coagulation or clipping to the bleeding arteries is highly efficacious in the stopping bleeding. Unfortunately in 5 to 10% of patients, bleeding cannot be controlled during index endoscopy or recurs after initial hemostasis. These patients are often elderly with significant co-morbidities. Their bleeding lesions are large eroding into major sub-serosal arteries. In the few who need surgical salvage, mortality increases to around 30%. The Over-the-scope-Clip (OTSC) is a device, which allows endoscopists to capture a large amount of tissue and compress on the bleeding artery. The OTSC also has a high retention rate. Recurrent bleeding with the use of standard hemo-clips can occur because of their low retention rate. We reported the use of OTSC with a high success rate in a case series of patients with refractory bleeding after standard endoscopic treatment. We have also used OTSC in the treatment of bleeding from pseudo-aneurysm arising from large eroded arteries in ulcer base. A multicenter randomized controlled trial that compares OTSC to standard endoscopic treatment in the endoscopic treatment of refractory bleeding lesions has just been completed. The use of OTSC has been shown to be superior in achieving hemostatic control and reducing further bleeding. In this proposed randomized controlled trial, we would test the hypothesis that the use of OTSC, when used as the first or primary treatment, is superior to standard treatment in achieving hemostasis and thereby improve patients' outcomes.

Primary Scientific Objective Collect human clinical data to sustain the development of blood detection sensor and optimize its algorithm and parameters Preliminary evaluation of blood detection performances in human. Secondary Scientific Objective Assessment of blood detection sensor ability to identify the anatomical location (i.e. Stomach, SB or Colon) Evaluation of capsule transit characteristics in the GI tract Evaluation of BBC capsule safety Study Hypothesis: It is estimated that by implementing a spectrophotometer technology in capsule and utilizing the unique characteristics of light absorption by blood in specific spectrum, the capsule will be able to automatically detect blood in the GI tract with high accuracy. As such, the system may be an add-on to video capsules to provide efficient and quick detection of blood presence (for example in OGBI patients) or as stand alone low cost capsule (without video) which could serve as a tool similar to standard FOBT.

Peptic ulcer bleeding associated with ASA or NSAIDs is a major cause of hospitalization in Hong Kong. The investigators previously showed that ASA or NSAIDs accounted for about half of all cases of hospitalizations for peptic ulcer bleeding. Currently, ASA use has contributed to about one-third of the bleeding ulcers admitted to the investigators hospital that serves a local population of 1.5 million. In patients with acute coronary syndrome or acute ischemic stroke who develop ASA-induced bleeding peptic ulcers, whether ASA should be discontinued before ulcers have healed is a major dilemma. In another double-blind randomized trial, the investigators have shown that discontinuation of ASA after endoscopic treatment of bleeding ulcers was associated with a significantly increased in mortality within 8 weeks. In the absence of safer aspirins, co-therapy with a gastroprotective drug remains the dominant preventive strategy. Given the vast number of people taking ASA, however, it is only cost-effective to identify and treat those who are at high risk of ulcer bleeding and who have a strong indication for ASA use. Data from observational studies and randomized trials have consistently shown that PPIs are effective in reducing the risk of ulcer bleeding associated with ASA. Other potential preventive strategies include eradication of H. pylori infection, substitution of ASA for other non-aspirin anti-platelet drugs, and co-therapy with misoprostol or H2RAs.

The trial is a double-blind randomized trial designed to examine whether compliant iron therapy (intravenous or oral) for 3 months after discharge increases hemoglobin levels more and faster than no treatment - in patients with acute bleeding from upper gastrointestinal tract. The trial will include 126 patients at Aarhus University Hospital. In addition to efficacy assessment quality of life assessment and health economic calculations between the treatments will be compared.