Hypothesis: Eradication of esophageal varices by repeated injection sclerotherapy and maintenance of eradication using continued surveillance endoscopy may reduce recurrent variceal bleeding and death from esophageal varices.
Design: A prospective study of consecutive adult patients with endoscopically proved esophageal variceal bleeding.
Setting: A tertiary care university hospital in a metropolitan area.
Patients: Two hundred four patients (127 men and 77 women; mean age, 50.1 years; age range, 16-82 years) underwent 993 emergency and elective variceal endoscopic injection treatments with 5% ethanolamine oleate during 1992 endoscopy sessions. Most (166 [81.4%]) had cirrhosis, mainly due to alcohol abuse (131 [78. 9%]). The number of patients with each modified Pugh-Child risk grade was as follows: A, 30; B, 91; and C, 83. (The modified Pugh-Child classification comprises ascites, encephalopathy, serum albumin and bilirubin levels, and prothrombin time. Each variable is given a value of 1 to 3 with increasing impairment of liver function. Addition of the values leads to the Pugh-Child risk grades for each patient, with 5 and 6 giving grade A; 7 through 9, grade B; and 10 through 15, grade C, respectively.)
Results: Ninety-five patients (46.6%) rebled at a median of 17 days (range, 0-2583 days). Seventy-four patients (36.3%) had a total of 112 further bleeding episodes before eradication of varices. Varices were eradicated in 99 (87.6%) of 113 patients who survived longer than 3 months after a median of 5 injections and remained eradicated in 43 (mean follow-up after eradication, 38 months; range, 4-125 months). Rebleeding was markedly reduced after eradication of varices. Varices recurred in 56 patients, of whom only 10 rebled from recurrent esophageal varices. Cumulative survival by life table analysis was 55%, 41%, and 30% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. One hundred thirty-seven patients (67.2%) died during follow-up. Liver failure was the most common cause of death. Minor complications (mucosal ulceration) occurred in 105 patients. Major complications, including a localized injection site leak (n = 9), esophageal stenosis (n = 25), and esophageal perforation (n = 5), occurred in 39 patients.
Conclusions: Repeated injection sclerotherapy eradicated esophageal varices in most long-term patients. Complications related to injection sclerotherapy were mostly minor. Complete eradication of varices reduced rebleeding and death from esophageal varices.