Thalidomide in refractory bleeding due to gastrointestinal angiodysplasias

OBJECTIVES: to assess the efficacy of thalidomide in the treatment of relapsed or refractory bleeding secondary to gastrointestinal angiodysplasia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: we carried out a prospective study of 12 patients with bleeding due to gastrointestinal angiodysplasia refractory to conventional therapy who were treated with thalidomide. For each patient, we considered: age, sex, underlying disease, previous therapies, dose and duration of thalidomide treatment, evolution of haemoglobin levels and adverse effects of treatment. The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics with SPSS v. 16. RESULTS: seven men and 5 women with a mean age of 77 years were included in the present study. Five had some underlying pathology and all of them had received prior endoscopic/octreotide treatment. The dose of thalidomide administered was 200 mg/24 h and the duration of the treatment four months, with the exception of two patients in whom treatment was discontinued because of adverse side effects. Mean haemoglobin concentration before onset of treatment was 6.5 g/dL, at two months it was 11.3 g/dL and at the end of treatment 12.1 g/dL. CONCLUSIONS: thalidomide is an effective treatment in gastrointestinal bleeding due to angiodysplasia, but it was withdrawn due to side effects in 16% of the patients included in our study.