Selective double disconnection for cirrhotic portal hypertension.

Background: To evaluate the effect of selective double portazygous disconnection with preserving vagus (SDPDPV) for patients with portal hypertension (PHT) in the authors' hospital.

Methods: Patients (453) with cirrhotic PHT who underwent either SDPDPV or pericardial devascularization with splenectomy (PDS) for variceal bleeding from February 2007 to January 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. The operation-relevant information, change of lavatory examination data, postoperative complications, and clinical outcomes were analyzed.

Results: There were no significant difference between the SDPDPV group and the PDS group of mean operative time and intraoperative blood loss (P >0.05). The free portal pressure in the SDPDPV group was much lower than PDS group significantly after operation (P <0.05). The test of biochemical profile of hepatocyte functions and Child-Pugh score at the end of the first postoperative year were significantly more altered in the SDPDPV group than in the PDS group (P <0.05). Except encephalopathy, occurrences or development of postoperative complications including rebleeding, ascites, and gastric stasis showed great difference between the two groups (P <0.05). The operative mortality rate and the 3-y survival rates were great difference between the two groups too (P <0.05).

Conclusions: The SDPDPV not only controls recurrent bleeding from varices with PHT effectively but also maintains normal dynamics of stomach and physiological function of intestine and hepatobiliary.