SINCE the first use of thrombin in clinical medicine1 in 1939, it has been used under a variety of circumstances for the control of bleeding. It is now generally available commercially, and its successful use in any particular situation generally requires that it be applied with the use of technics which take into account the properties of thrombin and the nature of the bleeding and its location. Its clinical application in supportive therapy for bleeding of the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract has not been considered feasible because of the acidity of the stomach. Without special precautions this high acidity will not only prevent thrombin from clotting fibrinogen but will also destroy the thrombin. A simple and practical technic has been developed which overcomes this difficulty, and evidence has been obtained which shows that thrombin is useful in the control of gastric hemorrhages.
PROPERTIES OF THROMBIN
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