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Review
. 2018 Mar;24(1):20-42.
doi: 10.3350/cmh.2017.0064. Epub 2017 Dec 18.

Prevention and management of gastroesophageal varices

Affiliations
Review

Prevention and management of gastroesophageal varices

Yeon Seok Seo. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Bleeding from gastroesophageal varices is a serious complication in patients with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Although there has been significance improvement in the prognosis of variceal bleeding with advancement in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for its management, mortality rate still remains high. Therefore, appropriate prevention and rapid, effective management of bleeding from gastroesophageal varices is very important. Recently, various studies about management of gastoesophageal varices, including prevention of development and aggravation of varices, prevention of first variceal bleeding, management of acute variceal bleeding, and prevention of variceal rebleeding, have been published. The present article reviews published articles and practice guidelines to present the most optimal management of patients with gastroesophageal varices.

Keywords: Cirrhosis; Ligation; Obliteration; Obturation; Portal hypertension.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The author has no conflicts to disclose.

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