title: A Prospective Study of Endoscopic Injection Sclerotherapy and Endoscopic Variceal Ligation in the Treatment of Esophageal Varices.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) with endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) in the management of esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective study, we compared the EIS and EVL in 124 patients who had endoscopically proved bleeding from esophageal varices. According to different treatment methods, they were randomly divided into the EIS and the EVL groups. Sixty-four patients were treated with sclerotherapy and 60 with ligation. The patients were followed for a mean of 2 years, during which we determined the incidence of complications and recurrences of bleeding and the number of treatment sessions needed to eradicate varices, mortality, and survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Active bleeding at the first treatment was controlled by EIS in 19 of 19 patients and by EVL in 16 of 16 patients. The likelihood of early rebleeding was slightly smaller in the patients treated with EIS (7.8% versus 11.7%, P = .47). However, late rebleeding rate was slightly more in EIS patients (28.1% versus 23.3%, P = .54) without statistical significance. The rate of eradication of varices in the EIS group was slightly lower than in the EVL group (79.7% versus 86.7%, P = .30). There were also no statistically significant differences in mortality (1.6% versus 3.3%, P = .61) or survival rate (71.9% versus 78.3%, P = .41) (all P > .05) after EIS and EVL. However, fever in the EIS group was significantly higher compared to that of in the EVL group (n = 17, 26.6% versus n = 6, 10.0%, P = .02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both EIS and EVL produce excellent results, are safe, effective, feasible, and acceptable for EVB with minimum complications and obviate need for subsequent procedures in the short term. To make better choice, we should consider the hospital conditions, operator experience, and the characteristics of esophageal varices.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , Jinan, China .
authors.forename: Syed Mohsin
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: 2 Qianfoshan Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , Jinan, China .
authors.forename: Shanbin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , Jinan, China .
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , Jinan, China .
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , Jinan, China .
authors.forename: Jinghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Gastroenterology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University , Jinan, China .
authors.forename: Chengyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008026:Ligation / Q000379:methods; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012597:Sclerosing Solutions / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015911:Sclerotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D012597:Sclerosing Solutions
keywords: endoscopic injection sclerotherapy; endoscopic variceal ligation; esophageal variceal bleeding