Injection sclerotherapy for oesophageal varices in children

Oesophageal varices in 21 children with portal hypertension (intrahepatic 13, extrahepatic 8) were treated with sclerotherapy using ethanolamine oleate injected via a fibreoptic endoscope. Repeat endoscopy confirmed variceal obliteration in 18 children with a mean of 3.5 (range 1-8) injections. No patient has bled since obliteration of varices. Complications were oesophageal stricture (2 patients), oesophageal ulcer (5 patients) and haemorrhage within 3 days of injection (5 patients). The early results suggest that this is a satisfactory method for the treatment of oesophageal varices in children.