Endoscopic Retreatment Compared with Surgery in Patients with Recurrent Bleeding after Initial Endoscopic Control of Bleeding Ulcers

Bleeding peptic ulcer is a life-threatening emergency with a mortality rate of around 10 percent. 1 , 2 Endoscopic therapy is the first treatment to control hemorrhage, and it improves the outcome for patients. 3 , 4 In 15 to 20 percent of patients, bleeding recurs after hemostasis has been established by endoscopy. Such patients are often elderly and at high surgical risk, and they are likely to benefit if endoscopy is repeated with satisfactory results. Conversely, the hypotension and delay in reestablishing hemostasis that result from repeated but unsuccessful endoscopic attempts are likely to adversely affect their survival. We compared endoscopic retreatment with . . .