Various policies are taken to treat urgent bleeding esophageal varices, but in cases of bad risk with hepatic encephalopathy or with hepatic cancer or portal vein thrombosis, an emergency operation cannot be performed, and sclerosing therapy under endoscopy and embolus therapy via the portal vein, which have been adopted recently, are difficult in practice, too.
We have modified transabdominal esophageal transection, performed so far as standard operation, simply and speedily with the stapling instrument to give minimal operative invasion, and applied it in cases of bad risk (for which even an emergency operation was withheld) with relaitvely good results as follows:
1) An emergency operation was performed in 11 cases. The operation time was as short as 30-65 min., 43 min. on the average, and the amount of bleeding during the operation was 685 ml on the average. Within 30 days after the operation 3 cases, 27.3%, died, which was a good result for the operation of bad risk case. Recurrent bleeding has been noted in no case so far. 4 cases returned to the work.
2) This operation was performed also in 6 severe cases with bsd laboratory and clinical findings without indication for the standard operation (cases without operative indication). Splenectomy was performed concurrently. There was no operational death, the operation time was 60-120 min., 106 min, on the average, and the amount of bleeding during the operation 1, 369 ml on the average, giving less operative invasion than the other standard operations. As to the prognosis, they are all well in 2-22 months after the operation, returning all to the work.
3) The main points of this operation are simple, rapid and sure stapling by simple esophageal transection without periesophageal devascularization (even without splenectomy).
The disadvantage is the complaint of stricture symptom at the site of stapling, which is recovered spontaneously in a short time, no case requiring a special treatment.
View full abstract