A review of injection sclerotherapy--the Cape Town experience

Sclerotherapy is currently used to treat acute variceal bleeds and also in the long-term management after a variceal bleed. The technical variants and results of sclerotherapy in both settings are reviewed and compared with alternative surgical treatment options. Sclerotherapy has become an accepted therapy for acute variceal bleeding. In Cape Town it is used in combination with the Sengstaken tube. A preliminary analysis of an ongoing trial comparing a rigid scope technique with a fibreoptic scope technique provides support for the use of the rigid scope in acute variceal bleeding. The place of repeated sclerotherapy in long-term management has become controversial. Varices can be eradicated and repeated variceal bleeds markedly reduced, but its role in improving survival requires further clarification.