Electrocoagulation is a procedure that uses heat to seal blood vessels or clot tissue. It is used to treat disorders of the digestive tract such as bleeding, internal hemorrhoids and some gastric cancers. It may also serve as a secondary treatment to stop bleeding after polyp removal.

In these procedures, the physician uses a long, flexible tube called an endoscope to find and examine the problem area. The endoscope contains a light that allows the physician to more clearly view the area to be treated.

When a treatment area is located, a device that creates electrical current is passed through the endoscope. Targeted tissue resists the electrical current, and this resistance creates the heat that either cuts the tissue or causes it to coagulate, or form a clot. This is known as cauterization, and it can be used to seal blood vessels and remove surrounding tissue.

Electrocoagulation is used to treat several conditions of the digestive tract, including those associated with bleeding, such as bleeding peptic ulcers, hemorrhoids or angiodysplasia, a condition in which stretched and fragile blood vessels occasionally bleed.

Electrocoagulation may also be used to treat damaged tissue in the esophagus, such as cells damaged by a condition known as Barrett's esophagus. It may also serve as a secondary treatment. For example, physicians use other devices with endoscopes to remove polyps from the colon. After removal, the colon may bleed at the polyp site. Electrocoagulation may be used to stop this bleeding.

Electrocoagulation is most effective in clotting small blood vessels that are less than 2 to 3 millimeters (less than 1/10 of an inch) in diameter. Usually, an electrode with a metallic sphere tip between 2 and 5 millimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inches) is used.

Electrocoagulation presents relatively few risks to the patient. In some cases, electrocoagulation may itself cause additional bleeding. Further treatment with electrocoagulation almost always stops this bleeding. Organ puncture is also possible.