Thomson M.: Effective GI bleeding management and endoscopy

Hello, listeners! Today’s guest on the ESPGHAN podcast is Prof Dr Mike Thomson, who needs no introduction as an expert in paediatric therapeutic endoscopy—whoops! Well, that’s him introduced, then. Prof Thomson trained in Aberdeen, and after ten years knocking about various junior posts in the United Kingdom (with a jolly in Brisbane, lucky man!), he was lured into the lair of the southern beast, that is to say, London. There, at the Royal Free Hospital, he stayed for ten more years, leaving to take up his present position in Sheffield. He offers for discussion two articles and an essay on interventional endoscopy and paediatric gastrointestinal haemorrhage, titled: "Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Childhood: Development of the Sheffield Scoring System to Predict Need for Endoscopic Therapy"; "There Is No Excuse for Mortality Due to Lack of Competency and Training of Paediatric Endoscopists in Gastrointestinal Bleeding Therapy in 2018"; and "A Management Strategy for Nonvariceal Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Children: An ESPGHAN Position Paper." Whilst full bibliographic details are available in a précis on the ESPGHAN website, there can be no harm in noting here that the first author of each is a certain Thomson M. Endoscopy in practice is, of course, practical: one learns how to do it by doing it. Yet the lessons that practising endoscopy teaches can be gathered, studied, and passed along to those less experienced at the trade, in hopes of minimising individual re-invention of the bicycle. When the day comes that listeners must, on their own, glove up for an endoscopy in a child with haematemesis, then to have paid attention to this podcast, to have become familiar with Prof Thomson’s writings, may prove useful indeed. Stepping onto the pedals, one can be more confident that the bicycle beneath one is sturdily built and that the ride ahead will not be disastrously wobbly. Literature Thomson MA et al. Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Childhood: Development of the Sheffield Scoring System to Predict Need for Endoscopic Therapy. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2015 May;60(5):632–636. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000000680. PMID: 25539193. Thomson M. There Is No Excuse for Mortality Due to Lack of Competency and Training of Paediatric Endoscopists in Gastrointestinal Bleeding Therapy in 2018. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2018 Dec;67(6):684–688. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0000000000002148. PMID: 30211844. Thomson M et al. A Management Strategy for Nonvariceal Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Children: An ESPGHAN Position Paper. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2026 Mar;82(3):895–915. doi: 10.1002/jpn3.70278. Epub 2026 Jan 1. PMID: 41479032. Prof. Thompson´s favourite song: Three Little Birds - Bob Marley ESPGHAN favourite Songs can be found on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YIHKjxITLEm9XNyHyypTo