The management of acute variceal haemorrhage

Abstract

Sixty-two patients presented on 81 occasions with acute-oesophageal variceal haemorrhage. Bleeding required tamponade on or during that admission on 87 occasions and was successful in arresting haemorrhage in 93%. Employing a policy of management in which injection sclerotherapy was the main therapeutic option, control of haemorrhage was achieved on 89% of admissions with an admission mortality of 30%. These results are compared with other reported series.