Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy for esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients without hepatocellular carcinoma: a comparison of longterm survival between prophylactic therapy and emergency therapy.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether prophylactic endoscopic injection sclerotherapy prolonged survival in patients with esophageal varices complicated by liver cirrhosis in the absence of hepatocellular carcinoma, compared with emergency sclerotherapy.

Methods: The subjects included 160 patients suffering from esophageal varices complicated by liver cirrhosis without hepatocellular carcinoma. Sixty-eight patients underwent emergency therapy for bleeding varices and the remaining 92 patients underwent prophylactic sclerotherapy. All subjects continued to receive therapy until the varices disappeared.

Results: Five-year survival was significantly better in the prophylactic group compared with the emergency group. During the 5-year observation period, 20 of the 68 patients in the emergency group experienced rebleeding and 5 patients died as a result of rebleeding. These rates were significantly higher than those in the prophylactic group (1 of 9 patients with bleeding died among the 92 prophylactic sclerotherapy patients). Multivariate analysis showed that prophylactic therapy and Child's C hepatic function were significant factors for 5-year survival.

Conclusions: Prophylactic sclerotherapy for esophageal varices might be more effective in prolonging longterm survival of patients complicated by liver cirrhosis in the absence of hepatocellular carcinoma, compared with emergency sclerotherapy.