Endoscopic Sclerotherapy for Bleeding Oesophageal Varices: Experience in Gezira State, Sudan

Introduction Bleeding due to oesophageal varices is the most common cause of upper gastrointestinal tract haemorrhage in Gezira State, Central Sudan. Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EST) is a valuable therapeutic modality for the management of variceal bleeding. Other options for treatment such as variceal band ligation are either expensive or unavailable. Objectives A retrospective study to evaluate the outcome of (EST) in the management of bleeding oesophageal varices due to portal hypertension in Gezira State, the centre of a developing country, Sudan. Methods A total of 1073 patients, during 2001-2010, were carefully selected particularly those with bleeding oesophageal varices consequent to portal hypertension. EST was performed using a standard technique and ethanolamine oleate (5%) was utilized as sclerosing agent. Results There were 777 males (72.4%) and 296 females (27.6%) in a ratio of 2.6. The causes of portal hypertension were found to be schistosomal periportal fibrosis (PPF) in 1001 (93.3%) patients, liver cirrhosis in 60 (5.5%) mixed PPF and cirrhosis in seven (0.7%) and portal vein thrombosis in five (0.5%) patients. Full obliteration of varices required a mean of four sessions with a range of 2-6. In the present study 350 (32.6%) patients have been followed up until complete sclerosis of varices. Conclusion This study provides evidence that endoscopic injection sclerotherapy is an important component in the management of bleeding oesophageal varices caused by hypertension. It is a safe and effective procedure.