Red dichromatic imaging reduces endoscopic treatment time of esophageal varices by increasing bleeding point visibility (with video)

Background Red dichromatic imaging (RDI) is a novel image-enhanced endoscopy released in 2020, which increases the visibility of deeper vessels. In this study, we retrospectively investigated whether RDI can shorten treatment times of endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS), and which operational procedure times are affected compared with white light imaging (WLI). Methods A total of 155 patients (RDI, 70; WLI, 85) with risky esophageal varices (EV), who were treated with EIS were analyzed. Treatment times were compared, and predictors associated with treatment time were analyzed by multivariate analysis. For 24 cases (RDI, 12; WLI, 12) in which treatment videos were recorded, the procedure times of each step (observation of EV, needle flush, positioning, puncture, observation of bleeding, hemostasis, observation after hemostasis) were measured. Regarding the seven patients with EV bleeding, color differences were calculated between the bleeding point and the blood pool using the CIE (L*a*b*) color measurement method, and results were compared between using RDI and WLI. Results Treatment times were shorter in the RDI group (RDI vs. WLI = 35.1 vs. 42.2 min; P < 0.01). 'RDI function' and 'amount of sclerosant' were extracted as independent predictors of treatment time. Times for 'observation of EV' and 'observation of bleeding' were shorter in the RDI group (P = 0.01 and <0.01, respectively). Regarding the color difference, RDI significantly increased bleeding point visibility (RDI vs. WLI = 31.4 +/- 11.8 vs. 8.6 +/- 6.2, P < 0.001). Conclusion Red dichromatic imaging can shorten the treatment time of EIS by increasing bleeding point visibility.

Automated summary

Red dichromatic imaging can shorten the treatment time of EIS by increasing bleeding point visibility. Observation times of EV and bleeding point are shorter in RDI group.