The use of cautery to control bleeding has a long history. Red hot irons were used by Hippocrates (460 - 380 BC) to control bleeding from hemorrhoids [ 1 ]. Electrocautery has been extensively used in surgery to stop bleeding. With the development of fiberoptic endoscopes, accessories which allowed cauterization of bleeding points in the gastrointestinal tract through the instrument channel become available, and endoscopic hemostasis using coagulation became a reality in the 1980s.