Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy of esophageal varices. Considerations on the first 85 patients

Eighty-five consecutive cases of esophageal varices treated by endoscopic sclerotherapy are analyzed retrospectively. Most of these cases (84.7%) were done in emergency in patients (60) with poor liver function. Bleeding was stopped in 94.4% of cases but 22% of them had at least one rebleeding episode. Only a few and minor complications were observed. The safety and the immediate good results obtained by the procedure recommend it as a primary measure in bleeding esophageal varices. Moreover the actual role of endoscopic sclerotherapy as an elective or prophylactic procedure in the treatment of hemorrhage from esophageal varices, is discussed.