Variceal hemorrhage

Abstract

Figure 2 is the algorithm followed in our institution for management of acute variceal hemorrhage. A small percentage of patients who present with active variceal hemorrhage will stop bleeding after gastric lavage alone. However, most patients require an intravenous vasopressin infusion at a dose of 0.4 units per minute, preferably combined with intravenous administration of nitroglycerin. Although glypressin and somatostatin may be associated with fewer side effects than vasopressin, the superiority of these drugs remains to be determined. Whether pharmacologic therapy succeeds or fails, most patients then proceed to endoscopic sclerotherapy. Sclerotherapy may be used as a temporizing measure in preparation for elective surgery or as a long-term, definitive treatment for prevention of recurrent hemorrhage. Balloon tamponade is reserved for patients who are bleeding too rapidly for effective sclerotherapy and for sclerotherapy failures in preparation for emergency surgery. Because recurrent hemorrhage frequently occurs after balloon deflation, a more definitive treatment (surgery or endoscopic sclerotherapy) should be planned for all patients who undergo balloon tamponade. Because operative risk is unacceptably high for patients with hepatic functional decompensation secondary to variceal hemorrhage, we believe that a policy of routine emergency surgery is unwise. Rather, emergency surgical intervention is reserved for the relatively small number of patients (15 to 25 per cent) who continue to bleed after nonoperative options have failed. Shunt surgery should be considered early in the course of patients with bleeding secondary to gastric varices and portal hypertensive gastropathy, both of which respond poorly to nonoperative measures.