Abstract
During the 16-year period between January 1969 and December 1984, the results of treatment of 132 cases of esophageal varices using portal nondecompression surgery, performed in the Department of Surgery, Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, were investigated. Comparison of 31 cases of urgent surgery with 101 cases of elective or prophylactic surgery revealed a higher operative mortality and a lower survival rate on urgent surgery, but in the past two years operative mortality rate on every modes of surgery have been 0%, indicating that there are now hardly any problems with regard to the safety of surgery.
Comparison of surgical results in 72 cases using selective shunt with those in 60 cases using direct interruption indicated that there were many advantages in using the former, and that it is also important to select the surgical methods best suited to individual cases.
Surgery for esophageal varices in our department yields relatively satisfactory long-term prognosis and more expected macrobiotic effects than the prognosis of cases treated in the department of internal medicine.
