Unsedated Peroral Small-Caliber Endoscopy for Screening of Cirrhotics for Esophageal Varices (EV)

Gastrointestinal Bleeding

“…They found that variceal bleeding accounts for about two-thirds of the cases, a figure that is larger than in previous reports of a relatively higher incidence of nonvariceal bleeding in these patients [6]. Unsedated peroral small-caliber endoscopy has been found to be safe, accurate, and tolerable in screening for varices in cirrhotic patients, in comparison with conventional endoscopy (with sedation) [7]. Bleeding from rectal varices in patients with portal hypertension was found to be associated with a very high mortality rate due to liver failure in subsequent months, even if the bleeding was stopped endoscopically [8].…”