Endoscopic Application of Purastat® in the Treatment of Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome

A 49-years-old woman with a recent history of tenesmus, constipation, abdominal and rectal pain referred to our Unit. There was no previous history of rectal bleeding or a family history of gastrointestinal diseases. Laboratory tests showed haemoglobin 10.9 g/dl, MCV 72fl, ferritin 18 U/l. Physical examination was normal. The patient underwent a colonoscopy which identified a single ulcer of 2.5 cm of diameter without bleeding signs in the distal rectum, 4 cm from the anal margin. Histopathological examination revealed shallow ulceration with fibrosis in lamina propria. We decided to treat the ulcer with one application of Purastat. Four weeks later, a follow-up colonoscopy revealed a complete mucosal healing with only mild residual mucosal erythema. Solitary Rectal Ulcer Syndrome (SRUS) is an uncommon benign proctologic disease usually affecting young adults with a prevalence of 1:100.000 per year, equally affecting women and men with a slight predominance in young women. SRUS is characterized by chronic rectal pain and bleeding, constipation, incomplete evacuation, tenesmus and mucous discharge impairing the patients’ quality of life. In past years several topical agents have been used reporting clinical improvements, also if none of them has been evaluated in prospective controlled trials. Purastat (3D-Matrix Europe SAS, France) is a novel self-assembling peptide developed as a haemostatic agent for endoscopic and surgical procedures. In addition to the known haemostatic effect, it has been hypothesized that the activated Purastat nanostructure favors the cell and tissue proliferative process since the similarity of the activated Purastat 3-D nanostructure with the natural extracellular matrix (ECM-SM) scaffold material would result in an adequate adherence of cells and regenerative tissues, achieving more effective healing of the mucosa. Based on this hypothetical re-epithelizing property of Purastat, we decided to use it in this patient, achieving mucosal healing and symptoms improvement.