Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunts Reduce Variceal Bleeding and Improve Survival in Patients with...

To investigate from a population health perspective the effects of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation on recurrent variceal bleeding and survival in patients with cirrhosis.

Patients with cirrhosis who presented to outpatient and acute-care hospitals in California (2005-2011) and Florida (2005-2014) with variceal bleeding comprised the study cohort. Patients entered the study cohort at their first presentation for variceal bleeding; all subsequent hospital encounters were then evaluated to determine subsequent interventions, complications, and mortality data.

A total of 655,577 patients with cirrhosis were identified, of whom 42,708 (6.5%) had at least 1 episode of variceal bleeding and comprised the study cohort. The median follow-up time was 2.61 years. A TIPS was created in 4,201 (9.8%) of these patients. There were significantly greater incidences of coagulopathy (83.9% vs 72.8%; P < .001), diabetes (45.5% vs 38.8%; P < .001), and hepatorenal syndrome (15.3% vs 12.5%; P < .001) in TIPS recipients vs those without a TIPS. Following propensity-score matching, TIPS recipients were found to have improved overall survival (82% vs 77% at 12 mo; P < .001) and a lower rate of recurrent variceal bleeding (88% vs 83% recurrent bleeding-free survival at 12 months,; P < .001) than patients without a TIPS. Patients with a TIPS had a significant increase in encounters for hepatic encephalopathy vs those without (1.01 vs 0.49 per year; P < .001).

TIPS improves recurrent variceal bleeding rates and survival in patients with cirrhosis complicated by variceal bleeding. However, TIPS creation is also associated with a significant increase in hepatic encephalopathy.