Abstract
Angioectasias (AD) belong to benign vascular malformations of the gastrointestinal
tract and are responsible for about 4–7% of upper non variceal bleeding, 30–40% of
small bowel occult bleeding and 3–40% of colonic bleeding episodes. Gastrointestinal
haemorrhage secondary to AD represents an important diagnostic and therapeutic problem
that negatively impacts on the quality of life of patients and heath care costs. Endoscopic
interventions are the mainstay in both diagnosis and treatment of vascular malformations.
However, in a substantial percentage of the cases, age of the patients, comorbidities,
clinical severity of anaemia and blood loss as well as size, site and number of lesions
prevent this therapeutic approach. Hormonal therapy, thalidomide and somatostatin
analogues have been investigated for their potential role as rescue therapies in controlling
AD bleeding although, thus far, no recommendations have been provided on their use
in this clinical setting.
In order to implement appropriate prescription of pharmacological agents to manage
gastrointestinal bleeding due to ADs, the Italian Society of Gastroenterology (SIGE)
nominated a panel of experts who reviewed the available clinical literature and produced
practical clinical recommendations.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 15, 2018
Accepted:
February 8,
2018
Received in revised form:
January 11,
2018
Received:
October 24,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
