Life-saving gastro technique trialled at Sheffield Children’s

Gastro-intestinal (GI) bleeds can be rapid and difficult to stop, requiring expert surgical intervention. They can be life threatening for children.

Sheffield Children’s Hospital’s GI Unit is recognised as the leader in this field world wide and complex GI bleeding cases come to the Unit from all over the UK and further afield.

For the emergency cases Consultant Paediatric Gastroenterologist Professor Mike Thomson and his team have been trialling a new product to stem GI bleeds here at Sheffield Children’s.

The product, Hemospray, is an inert and non-toxic powder delivered via an endoscope, which works to stop blood loss quickly by sticking to the bleeding site and providing a barrier to more bleeding. Compared to other surgical interventions to reduce GI bleeding, it is less complicated to administer and can avoid major operations, thereby improving outcomes for patients.

This is the first trial of its kind in children anywhere in the world and the results to date are very promising, with a full publication coming soon.