Survey of 15 liver cirrhosis patients without upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

Abstract

Objective To investigate the survival status of liver cirrhosis patients without upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).Methods From 2004 to 2013,15 liver cirrhosis patients without upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage volunteered received TIPS treatment were followed up to find out the difficulty and the success rate of TIPS procedure,the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy,upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and improving of hypersplenism.Results The success rate of operation was 100％.The average of operation time was 60 minutes.During follow-up,no stent angulation occurred,no gastrointestinal hemorrhage happened and no one died in all 15 patients after TIPS operation.There were four patients with hepatic encephalopathy in eight weeks after operation.The anemia of four patients improved compared with that before operation.Conclusions TIPS is a safe and effective threapy in the prevention of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in the patients with liver cirrhosis accompanied with severe gastroesophageal varices.It may become the primary prophylaxis for liver cirrhosis patients without upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Key words: Liver cirrhosis; Gastrointestinal hemorrhage; Esophageal and gastric varices; Portosystemic shunt, transjugular intrahepatic