Comparative study of primary and secondary prevention of bleeding oesophgeal varices

ABSTRACT

This study included 302 patients with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices who were classified into five groups; two groups of primary prophylaxis and three groups of secondary prophylaxis. The first group was under propranolol therapy [88 patients] and the second group was the control group [62 patients] with a mean age of 49 years and the mean follow up period was 2.97 +/- 1.88 years for the former and 2.35 +/- 1.1 years for the latter. It was concluded that propranolol is an effective treatment in primary prophylaxis as it decreases the rate of bleeding while increases the need for and the amount of blood transfusion. Also, this study supported the long-term use of propranolol plus endoscopic sclerotherapy for secondary prevention of bleeding esophageal varices