About this Medicine article

Is Endoscopic Band Ligation Necessary for Primary Prophylaxis of Esophageal Varices Without High Bleeding Risks? by Seyfettin Köklü; Osman Yuksel; Sahin Coban; Omer Basar is a Medicine article available to read on EtoBox.

We have read the article by Tripathi et al. We found the study highly interesting, and the outcomes of the study encourage us to use carvedilol in cases with portal hypertension. Tripathi et al. compared the outcomes of carvedilol and endoscopic band ligation as primary prophylaxis for esophageal varices and concluded that the carvediloltreated group had lower upper gastrointestinal bleeding risks. However, we have several comments about the methods of the study. As we know, endoscopic band ligation is the preferred method in the management of bleeding esophageal varices or for secondary prophylaxis of varices. However, pharmacological treatment rather than endoscopic management is usually preferred for primary prophylaxis. Exceptions include patients who have severe liver dysfunction, large varices, or red signs on varices. 2 As we have understood from the text, Tripathi et al. enrolled the cases with grade II varices in the band ligation group. A majority of the cases (45 individuals, 87%) in the band ligation group had grade II esophageal varices, whereas only seven (13%) patients had grade III varices. Additionally only two patients had red signs on esophageal varices. A total

Author

Seyfettin Köklü; Osman Yuksel; Sahin Coban; Omer Basar

Publisher

Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)

Published

2009

Language

EN

Field

Medicine (Health Sciences)