Adherence to guidelines in bleeding oesophageal varices and effects on outcome: comparison between a specialized unit and a community hospital.

Objectives: Randomized controlled trials have shown beneficial effects of vasoactive drugs, endoscopic treatment and prophylactic antibiotics on the outcome of bleeding oesophageal varices (BOV). However, translating guidelines based on randomized controlled trials into clinical practice is difficult. Our aims were to compare adherence to evidence-based guidelines in BOV between a specialized unit and a community hospital, and to investigate whether differences in adherence affected the outcome.