AIM:ToevaluatetheefficacyandsafetyofN-butyl-2-cyanoacrylateintreatingacutebleedingofgastricvaricesinchildren.METHODS:Theretrospectivestudyincluded21childrenwith47episodesofactivegastricvaricealbleedingwhoweretreatedbyendoscopicinjectionofN-butyl-2-cyanoacrylateatAsanMedicalCenterChildren’sHospitalbetweenAugust2004andDecember2011.Toreducetheriskofembolism,eachinjectionconsistedof0.1-0.5mLof0.5mLN-butyl-2-cyanoacrylatedilutedwith0.5or0.8mLLipiodol.Theprimaryoutcomewasincidenceofhemostasisaftervaricealobliterationandthesecondaryoutcomewascomplicationoftheprocedure.RESULTS:The21patientsexperienced47episodesofactivegastricvaricealbleeding,includingrebleeding,forwhichtheyreceivedatotalof52cyanoacrylateinjections.Following42bleedingepisodes,hemostasiswasachievedafteroneinjectionandfollowingfivebleedingepisodesitwasachievedaftertwoinjections.Themeanvolumeofeachsinglealiquotofcyanoacrylateinjectedwas0.3±0.1mL(range:0.1-0.5mL).Injectionachievedhemostasisin45of47(95.7%)episodesofacutegastricvaricealbleeding.Elevenpatients(52.4%)developedrebleedingevents,withthemeandurationofhemostasisbeing11.1±11.6mo(range:1.0-39.2mo).Notreatment-relatedcomplicationssuchasdistalembolismwerenotedwiththeexceptionofabdominalpaininonepatient(4.8%).Amongfourmortalities,onepatientdiedofvaricealrebleeding.CONCLUSION:Endoscopicvaricealobliterationusingasmallvolumeofaliquotswithrepeatedcyanoacrylateinjectionwasaneffectiveandsafeoptionforthetreatmentofgastricvaricesinchildren.
