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Esophageal staple transection as a salvage procedure after failure of acute injection sclerotherapy
Author(s) -
McCormick P. Aiden,
Kaye Graham L.,
Greenslade Lynda,
Cardin Fabrizio,
Hobbs Kenneth E. F.,
McIntyre Neil,
Burroughs Andrew K.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840150308
Subject(s) - medicine , sclerotherapy , surgery , hepatology , esophagus , esophageal varices , portal hypertension , cirrhosis
It is not clear which therapy should be used in patients with bleeding esophageal varices that are not controlled by emergency sclerotherapy. This is a high‐risk group with reported mortality rates of between 70% and 90%. We report our 7‐yr experience with staple transection of the esophagus in this patient group. Of 168 patients (280 bleeding episodes) treated with sclerotherapy, 22 had emergency staple transection for failure to control bleeding. Bleeding was controlled in 20 patients (90%), and 10 patients (45%) survived to leave the hospital, including 4 of 10 patients (40%) with Pugh grade C liver disease. We suggest that emergency staple transection is an effective salvage treatment for this high‐risk group. (Hepatology 1992;15:403–406).