Update of endoscopic band ligation therapy for treatment of esophageal varices.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Van Stiegmann.
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Laparoscopic ultrasonography complements conventional radiologic evaluation of the biliary system at cholecystectomy. Addition of laparoscopic ultrasonography for staging patients with hepatic and pancreatic cancer improves accuracy and minimizes futile laparotomy. Dedicated laparoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy devices facilitate tissue sampling. Ultrasonography will play an increasingly important role in laparoscopic diagnosis and treatment.
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Endoscopic treatment is widely accepted for both initial and subsequent definitive therapy in patients with hemorrhage from esophageal varices. Endoscopic sclerotherapy, once performed with rigid endoscopes in anesthetized patients, is now performed with flexible endoscopes in awake patients, who frequently return home immediately after the procedure. Such treatment does not confer a survival advantage in the early period after variceal hemorrhage, but serial treatment does result in a lower risk of recurrent hemorrhage and probably prolongs life. Primary treatment by endoscopic sclerotherapy appears to be equal or more effective than primary shunt therapy, even with a sclerotherapy failure rate of from 10 to 30 percent. In spite of such results, the incidence of rebleeding and treatment-related complications and the mortality among sclerotherapy-treated patients remain high. Newer forms of endoscopic treatment such as polymer injection and mechanical ligation have emerged in attempts to better the results obtained with sclerotherapy. Refinement of the technique for conventional sclerotherapy and the potential for increased effectiveness of the new techniques may yet result in improved and safer endoscopic therapy for bleeding esophageal varices.
Duodenal perforation resulting from endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) is a serious complication with a high mortality. Diagnosis is often problematic and the optimum treatment is controversial. Eight proven perforations occurred following 441 ES at University of Colorado Hospital, a rate of 1.8 per cent. Physical and laboratory findings were of little diagnostic value, whereas plain abdominal radiographs showed evidence of perforation in 86 per cent. All patients were operated on promptly after diagnosis of perforation. Delay in diagnosis of perforation beyond 24 hours in six patients was associated with a high morbidity and two deaths. Analysis of published series confirmed that delay in diagnosis and delay in operation after perforation were associated with a higher mortality rate than early diagnosis with or without operation. We recommend operative intervention in all patients with clinical evidence of perforation following ES.
Choledochal cysts are uncommon congenital or acquired lesions of the biliary tree. The incidence of biliary tract carcinoma in patients with choledochal cysts is 5-35 times greater than that of the general population. Factors responsible for the increased risk of carcinoma are unknown. The case of a young woman who underwent excision of a choledochal cyst 16 years after initial diagnosis and treatment by choledochocystduodenostomy is reported. Metaplasia of the epithelial lining of the cyst was found in the resected specimen. The relative composition of bile acids in cyst contents was as follows: lithocholate, 2%; deoxycholate, 88%; chenodeoxycholate, 5%; and cholate, 5%. Virtually all bile acids were recovered in unconjugated form. In contrast, the bile acid composition of hepatic bile was as follows: lithocholate, 0%; deoxycholate, 34%; chenodeoxycholate, 43%; and cholate, 23%. Bile acids were fully conjugated. These data suggest that stasis of bile within choledochal cysts contributes to bacterial overgrowth and generation of unconjugated secondary bile acids.
One hundred consecutive patients with bleeding esophageal varices were treated with a new endoscopic ligating device that effects strangulation of varices using small elastic "O" rings. Treatments were continued after initial hospitalization to achieve variceal eradication. Follow-up ranged from 6 to 26 (mean: 15) months. Bleeding was controlled until discharge from hospital or death in 18 of 21 patients who were actively bleeding at index endoscopy. Overall, 26 patients died during the study, 12 during the index hospitalization. Cause of death was organ failure in 21, exsanguination in 3, and cancer in 2. Forty-one of 88 initial survivors experienced 72 episodes of recurrent bleeding (1 to 4 per patient). All but five rebleeds occurred before eradication. Sixty of 88 patients (68%) who survived index hospitalization had their varices eradicated. A median of 5 (1 to 12) treatments was required. Nine patients eventually had other forms of treatment for recurrent bleeding. Only 3 non-bleeding complications resulted from 462 endoscopic treatment sessions. We conclude that endoscopic ligation controls active variceal bleeding and eradicates varices with efficacy similar to that of sclerotherapy and with minimal risk of complications.
Dieulafoy disease is an unusual cause of massive and frequently fatal gastrointestinal tract hemorrhage that results from the erosion of a submucosal artery. Although the lesion has been found throughout the gastrointestinal tract, it most commonly occurs in the proximal stomach. Nine patients with this condition have been treated at the authors' institution during the past 5 years. The bleeding lesion was located before surgery with selective visceral arteriography in three patients. Rapid extravasation was demonstrated from an eroded but otherwise normal-appearing artery in all three cases. Hemorrhage was controlled successfully in one patient with selective embolization of the involved left gastric artery branch. The remaining eight patients were treated with surgical ligation.
Minilaparotomy and direct catheterization of the mesenteric vein for variceal embolization was attempted in 15 patients in whom medical and endoscopic treatment of variceal hemorrhage had failed. Hemorrhage was controlled immediately after the procedure in 11 patients. The 30-day survival rate was 60% (n = 9). The cause of death in six patients was variceal bleeding (n = 2), liver failure (n = 3), and respiratory failure (n = 1). The 6-month survival rate was 33% (n = 5), and the 1-year survival rate was 27% (n = 4). Bleeding recurred in 67% of surviving patients; however, fatal variceal bleeding occurred in only 22% (n = 2). Direct mesenteric vein catheterization allows simplified entry into the portal vein for embolization of bleeding esophageal or gastric varices. Early experience suggests that the results are similar to those of percutaneous transhepatic embolization, without the complications and technical demands of a transhepatic approach.
Spontaneous bile duct rupture occurred in a 23-year-old who required emergency Cesarean section for fetal distress. This condition has not been reported in association with pregnancy. Only forty cases of spontaneous bile duct perforation in adults have been previously reported. Seventy percent of these perforations were related to biliary calculi. Sites of perforation were evenly distributed between common hepatic duct and common bile duct. Recommended treatment includes cholecystectomy, common bile duct exploration, T-tube placement, and Roux-En-Y ductal anastomosis if disruption is extensive.
Would economic benefit result from performing endoscopic cholangiography and removal of common bile duct stones prior to cholecystectomy in patients who are suspected preoperatively of having choledocholithiasis? In this study, 173 patients had cholecystectomy and 30 (17%) had common bile duct exploration. Records of these patients were reviewed as were those of 31 patients who had only endoscopic cholangiography and endoscopic stone removal. Cost estimates were based on local charges. Cholecystectomy with common bile duct exploration was $6730 more per patient than cholecystectomy alone. Endoscopic cholangiography and endoscopic stone removal was 87% successful in removing duct stones. Had endoscopic cholangiography and endoscopic stone removal been performed preoperatively in patients undergoing cholecystectomy who had suspected choledocholithiasis, 21 of 30 common bile duct explorations could theoretically have been eliminated. This would have saved $85,526 or $2851 per patient undergoing common bile duct exploration. Our analysis suggests that patients who require cholecystectomy and have suspected choledocholithiasis may be treated more cost-effectively by performing endoscopic cholangiography and endoscopic stone removal immediately prior to cholecystectomy than by cholecystectomy and operative common bile duct exploration.
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A nonlight-transmitting contact laser probe was used to treat acutely bleeding gastric ulcers in heparinized dogs. Thirty-five treated ulcers responded with complete hemostasis following 21-92 seconds (mean, 32 seconds) application per ulcer. Ten control ulcers left untreated bled for 5-30 minutes (mean, 11 minutes). Hemostasis was maintained at treated sites for the entire observation period (60 minutes). Perforations did not occur, and there was no evidence of full thickness injury. Histological assessment confirmed a limited (0.2-0.5 mm) zone of coagulation injury. The laser probe is effective for control of acute bleeding in this canine ulcer model.
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Endoscopic sclerotherapy is an effective method for treating bleeding esophageal varices. However, a number of complications may limit its usefulness. A newly developed method for treating bleeding varices, endoscopic variceal ligation, that uses small rubber bands to occlude and eradicate the varices, may cause less damage to the esophagus. Twenty-eight patients (seven with no prior treatment, eight undergoing sclerotherapy, and 12 undergoing variceal ligation) were evaluated with a symptom questionnaire and esophageal manometry. The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressures in the three groups did not differ. The percent LES relaxation was significantly (p = 0.04) less in the sclerotherapy group than in the untreated group. Contraction waves in the esophageal body were not different in amplitude, duration, and propagation speed in the three groups. There was no increase in the amount of heartburn after either form of treatment. Eight of the nine sclerotherapy patients had a stricture after treatment that required dilatation, whereas none of the ligation patients had strictures. We conclude from this that early in the course of sclerotherapy, stricture formation is common, but any long-lasting adverse effect on esophageal function is minimal. We also conclude variceal ligation therapy causes less esophageal dysfunction and has fewer local complications. Thus, endoscopic variceal ligation may be a safer and more easily tolerated alternative to endoscopic sclerotherapy.
Exclusion jejunoduodenostomy has been successfully used as the primary operation in five patients with severe bile reflux gastritis and in one patient with disabling Roux-en-Y syndrome. The operation is simple to perform, requires one anastomosis and appears to eliminate bile reflux gastritis and avoid potential emptying complications associated with the Roux-en-Y segment.