Objectives

This multicenter prospective randomized-controlled study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of second-look endoscopy (SLE) implemented after performing endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) of gastric neoplasms and to also examine which clinical and endoscopic elements are risk factors for post-ESD bleeding.

Patients and methods

Prospective randomized studies were carried out at two tertiary medical centers. Patients were divided into a group that underwent SLE (n=110) and a group that did not undergo SLE (non-SLE, n=110). The patients' clinical characteristics, endoscopic findings, and pathologic outcomes were analyzed after ESD.

Results

The post-ESD bleeding rate was 4.1% and no difference was observed between the SLE group and the non-SLE group. There was no difference in age, sex, drug use, comorbidities, endoscopic findings, pathological findings, or ESD procedure time between the SLE group and the non-SLE group. When the 211 patients who showed no post-ESD bleeding and nine patients who showed post-ESD bleeding were compared with each other, there was no difference in whether they underwent SLE, age, drug use, comorbidities, endoscopic findings, or pathological findings. However, the risk of occurrence of post-ESD bleeding was higher when ulcers in lesions were found (odds ratio: 12.54; P=0.03).

Conclusion

The SLE group and the non-SLE group did not show any significant difference in post-ESD bleeding ratios among gastric neoplasm patients. It was shown that the risk of occurrence for post-ESD bleeding was higher in cases where there were ulcers in lesions than in cases where there was no ulcer in lesions.