ABSTRACT
Objective: to determine the frequency of duodenal ulcer [DU], as well as other clinical characteristics occurring after endoscopic variceal ligation [EVL] of the esophagus
Study Design: descriptive study
Place and Duration of Study: the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China, from April 2012 to April 2013
Methodology: a total of 47 patients with esophageal varices [EVr] who had also undergone EVL and gastroscopic follow-up within 3 months of the procedure was retrospectively analyzed. The status of Helicobacter pylori [Hp] infection, Child-Pugh classification, and the grades of portal hypertensive gastropathy [PHG] were collected. Sixty EVr patients without EVL treatment, but with clinical data available, served as the control group
Results: the frequency of DU in the EVL group [29.8%, 14/47] was higher than the control group [6.7%, 4/60] [p=0.02]. Hp infection rate in EVL group was 19.15% [9/47], while in control group was 21.67% [13/60] [p=0.813]. Hp positive rate [12.5%, 1/8] in patients exhibited new DUs after EVL was comparable to the patients without DU in the EVL group [12.1%, 4/33] [p=1.00]. Patients with DU after EVL received 18.79 +/- 8.48 of ligating bands, while in those who did not exhibit DUs received 13.85 +/- 6.47 [z = -2.042, p = 0.041]. Logistic regression analysis showed that the occurrence of DU was not associated with age, gender, Child-Pugh classification, or the grade of PHG [p > 0.05]
Conclusion: esophageal EVL is associated with a higher frequency of developing DU, which is related to a larger number of applied bands but is not correlated with Hp infection status or other variables