Purpose: To assess the safety and efficacy of transcatheter arterial embolization for lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) and to determine the prognostic factors that affect clinical outcome.
Materials and methods: All patients diagnosed with LGIB by angiography at a single institution from April 2006 to January 2013 were included in a retrospective study. The rates of technical success, early recurrent bleeding, major complications, clinical success, and in-hospital mortality for transcatheter arterial embolization were determined. The influence of possible prognostic factors on the outcome was analyzed.
Results: A total of 112 patients were included (36 with small-bowel LGIB, 36 with colon LGIB, and 40 with rectal LGIB). N-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA) was the embolic agent for 84 patients (75.0%), whereas gelatin sponge pledgets (n = 20), microcoils (n = 2), polyvinyl alcohol particles with adjunctive gelatin sponge pledgets (n = 1), and blood clots (n = 1) were used in the other patients. The technical success rate was 96.4%. For the entire group, the rates of early recurrent bleeding, major complications, clinical success, and in-hospital mortality were 17.4%, 4.6%, 74.5%, and 25.0%, respectively. These were 15.2%, 4.8%, 75.3%, and 26.2%, respectively, in the NBCA group. Hematologic malignancy, immobilization status, and coagulopathy were significant prognostic factors for clinical outcomes.
Conclusions: Transcatheter arterial embolization is a safe and effective treatment for LGIB. NBCA could be used as a primary embolic agent for this procedure.
Keywords: LGIB; NBCA; OR; lower gastrointestinal bleeding; n-butyl cyanoacrylate; odds ratio.
© 2013 The Society of Interventional Radiology Published by SIR All rights reserved.