Guidelines on the use of gelatin sponge particles in embolotherapy

• DOI: 10.1007/s11604-014-0292-2
• Publication Date: 2014-02-07T09:25:18Z
• Authors: Shiro Miyayama; Koichiro Yamakado; Hiroshi Anai; Daisuke Abo; Tetsuya Minami; Haruyuki Takaki; Taishi Kodama; Takashi Yamanaka; Hideyuki Nishiofuku; Kengo Morimoto; Takeshi Soyama; Yu Hasegawa; Koichi Nakamura; Tomoaki Yamanishi; Morio Sato; Yasuo Nakajima
• Keywords: Pain; Hemorrhage; Embolization, Therapeutic; Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable; Hemostatics; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Japan; Neoplasms; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Animals; Humans; Anaphylaxis

Gelatin sponge (GS) is one of the most widely used embolic agents in interventional procedures. There are four commercially available GS products in Japan; however, the endovascular use of Gelfoam and Spongel is off-label, and Gelpart can only be used for hepatic artery embolization and Serescue can only be used for hemostasis of arterial bleeding. GS has been used for a variety of clinical indications, mainly tumor embolization and stopping massive arterial bleeding. The optimal size and preparation procedure of GS particles differs slightly for each clinical indication. In addition, there is a risk of ischemic and/or infectious complications associated with GS embolization in various situations. Therefore, radiologists should be familiar with not only the preparation and handling of GS particles, but also the disadvantages and potential risks, in order to perform GS embolization safely and effectively.