Bed side peritoneovenous shunt for relief of intractable ascites.

ABSTRACT

Bed side shunt was conducted in 84 patients for relief of massive refractory ascites secondary to bilharzial hepatic fibrosis. The median age was 46.3 years. After one week there were significant improvement of symptoms in all patients, weight reduction by 9.5 Kgms, increased urinary output from 0.9 to 4.3 liters, and significant improvement of serum proteins and kidney functions. Side effects were detected in 18 patients [21.4%] pulmonary oedema [3.6%], fever [14.4%] and DIC syndrome [7.2%]. The DIC was in subclinical form and restored without specific therapy. We report the efficiency of this technique in such cases, it is easy, simple, of low cost, with minimal morbidity and can be repeated after short time