Frequency of rectal varices in patients with cirrhosis.
OBJECTIVE
To document the frequency of rectal varices in patients with cirrhosis of liver and compare it with that of oesophageal varices in liver and to compare the frequency of rectal varices with non-cirrhotic controls.


METHODS
A cross-sectional analytical survey.


METHODS
The study was conducted in the medical wards of Civil Hospital, Karachi from August 2000 to July 2001.


METHODS
All patients of confirmed cirrhosis of liver, presenting during the study period, were selected for initial workup. On the basis of upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, patients were segregated into those with oesophageal varices (Group-A) and those without them (Group-B). A matched control group (Group-C) was added, which consisted of patients of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who underwent sigmoidoscopic/colonoscopic examination during the study period. Fiberoptic sigmoidoscopy was done in all selected patients. Statistical analysis for continuous variables was done by student's 't' test while non-continuous variables were analyzed by Mann-Whitney-U test.


RESULTS
A total of 104 patients (males 61; females 43) were included. Hepatic encephalopathy grade was significantly lower in Group-B (p < 0.0001). Grade-I varices were seen in 13 patients, Grade-II in 38 and Grade-III in 33 patients of Group-A. Rectal varices were present in 59.9% of patients in Group-A as compared to Group-B in which no one had them (p <0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Rectal varices are common in patients of portal hypertention.
Zuberi
Faisal Faiyaz
FF
Department of Medicine, The Aga Khan University, Karachi.
Zuberi
Bader Faiyaz
BF
Khan
Muhammad Ataullah
MA
Khan
Masood Hameed
MH
D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006484:Hemorrhoids / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012007:Rectum / Q000098:blood supply*; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000453:epidemiology*