1.   Others prefer primary surgical intervention, assuming a high risk of recurrence, and see primary endoscopic treatment as an alternative in patients with a high operative risk only.

2.   Where there was rebleeding, endoscopic treatment was repeated.

3.   Surgery should only be considered if primary endoscopic treatment fails.

4.   Successful endoscopic treatment was performed with the aid of Doppler ultrasound.

5.   The technique is also suitable for studying the effectiveness of local endoscopic treatment.

6.   Death from peptic ulcer haemorrhage can be lowered with better hospital care including combined medical and surgical teams and the latest endoscopic treatment.

7.   Our technique and results of endoscopic treatment of bile duct injury after open cholecystectomy have been described in detail elsewhere.

8.   Paired data for laser energy per month required and for frequency of endoscopic treatment before and after radiotherapy were analysed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

9.   Also, endoscopic treatment has the advantage of pre-emptying the obstruction that may result from radiotherapy.