Polidocanol injection therapy for small-bowel hemangioma by using double-balloon endoscopy.

Background and Aims: Small-bowel hemangioma is a rare disease that often causes active bleeding. The standard therapeutic method for small-bowel hemangioma is surgical resection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of polidocanol injection (PDI) for small-bowel hemangiomas.
Methods: This study included 12 patients with obscure GI bleeding (6 male; mean age 62 years) with 39 small-bowel hemangiomas; patients were treated with PDI by using double-balloon endoscopy (DBE). EUS with DBE was performed before PDI. The lesions were divided into 2 groups according to tumor size: Group A (size <10 mm; 20 lesions) and group B (size ≥10 mm; 19 lesions). The outcomes of PDI treatment for small-bowel hemangioma were evaluated between the 2 groups. Additionally, in order to standardize the amount of PDI injected, the total amount of polidocanol according to lesion size was calculated.
Results: There was no difference in the location of lesions and treatment times between the 2 groups. Group B had a significantly higher injection time per lesion (P < .05) and amount of polidocanol per lesion than group A (P < .01). Rebleeding occurred in only 1 case (8%). There were no adverse events related to PDI. The contribution ratio between the lesion size and amount of polidocanol showed a correlation (r = 0.77). The optimal amount of polidocanol for small-bowel hemangioma was determined to be 0.2 mL/mm.
Conclusions: PDI is an easy, safe, and effective method to treat small-bowel hemangiomas.
(Copyright © 2016 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)