Emergency distal splenorenal shunt for medically uncontrollable variceal haemorrhage

Emergency distal splenorenal shunt was prospectively carried out on 14 patients presenting with active bleeding from esophagogastric varices which was not controllable by medical treatment. Patients were composed of nine males and five females. Age ranged from 34 to 76 years with an average of 56.2. Underlying liver disease were cirrhosis of the liver in seven, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in five, primary biliary cirrhosis in one, and chronic hepatitis in one instance. Preoperatively, the Child's classification was A in one, B in five, and C in eight patient. Two patients underwent the original Warren shunt but the remaining 12 were treated by modified distal splenorenal shunts using Gore-Tex interposition. Three patients with Child's class C disease died within one month (operative mortality 21.4%). An oldest woman transiently had hepatic encephalopathy but recurrent variceal bleeding was not observed in any of the patients. Distal splenorenal shunt is a safe and reliable means in the treatment of medically intractable variceal hemorrhage.