Huangtu Decoction, first recorded in Essentials from the Golden Cabinet(Jin Kui Yao Lue) from ZHANG Zhong-jing in Han dynasty, is used to treat distal bleeding. It is mainly treated for the syndrome of failing to control blood with spleen-yang deficiency. The connotation of distal bleeding is more extensive, including not only upper gastrointestinal bleeding in the traditional sense such as peptic ulcer bleeding, gastrointestinal tumors, gastric mucosal lesions, vascular dysplasia, esophagogastric variceal bleeding, and pancreatic and biliary tract injury, but also other anorectal diseases such as part colon and rectal cancer swelling or polyps, hemorrhoids, and anal fissure and other parts of bleeding such as epistaxis, thrombocytopenia, functional uterine bleeding, threatened abortion, and unexplained hematuria. Distal bleeding also involves syndromes of failing to keep part deficient and cold fluids in interior, such as nocturia, enuresis, clear nose, sweating, cold tears, and leucorrhea, and excessive gastrointestinal bleeding caused by anti-plate and anticoagulant drugs, unexplained positive in the fecal occult blood test, and other modern clinical new problems. The indications of Huangtu Decoction include not only lower blood, defecation before blood, distant blood, hematemesis, epistaxis, and other diseases in traditional Chinese medicine, but also three types of clinical manifestations including bleeding, deficiency syndrome, and stagnant heat syndrome. In the clinic, Huangtu Decoction can be used to treat acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding, acute coronary syndrome complicated with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding, bleeding events caused by excessive antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs, unexplained positive in the fecal occult blood test, gastrointestinal tumor with bleeding, thrombocytopenia, and other acute and critical diseases. The dosage of Cooking Stove Earthkey, Rehmanniae Radix, and Asini Corii Colla in Huangtu Decoction is the key to hemostasis.
Humans ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/drug therapy* ; Acute Coronary Syndrome ; Epistaxis ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Anticoagulants ; Thrombocytopenia ; Critical Care

Objective: To analyze the occurrence of recompensation conditions in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis after entecavir antiviral therapy. Methods: Patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis with ascites as the initial manifestation were prospectively enrolled. Patients who received entecavir treatment for 120 weeks and were followed up every 24 weeks (including clinical endpoint events, hematological and imaging indicators, and others) were calculated for recompensation rates according to the Baveno VII criteria. Measurement data were compared using the Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U test between groups. Categorical data were compared by the χ (2) test or Fisher's exact probability method between groups. Results: 283 of the 320 enrolled cases completed the 120-week follow-up, and 92.2% (261/283) achieved a virological response (HBV DNA 20 IU/ml). Child-Pugh and MELD scores were significantly improved after treatment (8.33 ± 1.90 vs. 5.77 ± 1.37, t = 12.70, P < 0.001; 13.37 ± 4.44 vs. 10.45 ± 4.58, t = 5.963, P < 0.001). During the 120-week follow-up period, 14 cases died, two received liver transplants, 19 developed hepatocellular cancer, 11 developed gastroesophageal variceal bleeding, and four developed hepatic encephalopathy. 60.4% (171/283) (no decompensation events occurred for 12 months) and 56.2% (159/283) (no decompensation events occurred for 12 months and improved liver function) of the patients had achieved clinical recompensation within 120 weeks. Patients with baseline MELD scores > 15 after active antiviral therapy achieved higher recompensation than patients with baseline MELD scores ≤15 [50/74 (67.6%) vs. 109/209 (52.2%), χ (2) = 5.275, P = 0.029]. Conclusion: Antiviral therapy can significantly improve the prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis. The majority of patients (56.2%) had achieved recompensation. Patients with severe disease did not have a lower probability of recompensation at baseline than other patients.
Humans ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics* ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/drug therapy* ; Antiviral Agents/adverse effects* ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/complications* ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications* ; Treatment Outcome ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/complications* ; Hepatitis B/drug therapy*

Liver cirrhosis is a major global health burden worldwide due to its high risk of morbidity and mortality. Role of terlipressin for the management of liver cirrhosis related complications has been recognized during recent years. This paper aims to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidance on the use of terlipressin for liver cirrhosis related complications. Hepatobiliary Study Group of Chinese Society of Gastroenterology of Chinese Medical Association and Hepatology Committee of Chinese Research Hospital Association have invited gastroenterologists, hepatologists, infectious disease specialists, surgeons, and clinical pharmacists to formulate the clinical practice guidance based on comprehensive literature review and experts' clinical experiences. Overall, 10 major statements regarding efficacy and safety of terlipressin in liver cirrhosis were proposed. Terlipressin can be beneficial for the management of cirrhotic patients with acute variceal bleeding and hepatorenal syndrome (HRS). However, the evidence regarding the use of terlipressin in cirrhotic patients with ascites, post-paracentesis circulatory dysfunction, and bacterial infections and in those undergoing hepatic resection and liver transplantation remains insufficient. Terlipressin-related adverse events, mainly including gastrointestinal symptoms, electrolyte disturbance, and cardiovascular and respiratory adverse events, should be closely monitored. The current clinical practice guidance supports the use of terlipressin for gastroesophageal variceal bleeding and HRS in liver cirrhosis. High-quality studies are needed to further clarify its potential effects in other liver cirrhosis related complications.
Electrolytes ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/drug therapy* ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/etiology* ; Hepatorenal Syndrome/etiology* ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/drug therapy* ; Lypressin/adverse effects* ; Terlipressin/adverse effects* ; Vasoconstrictor Agents/adverse effects*

The Baveno VII workshop held in October 2021 was featured by the subject of personalized care in portal hypertension. The workshop focused on the following 9 topics including: the relevance and indications for measuring the hepatic venous pressure gradient as a gold standard; the use of non-invasive tools for the diagnosis of compensated advanced chronic liver disease and clinically significant portal hypertension; the impact of etiological and of non-etiological therapies in the course of cirrhosis; the prevention of the first episode of decompensation; the management of the acute bleeding episode; the prevention of further decompensation; as well as the diagnosis and management of splanchnic vein thrombosis and other vascular disorders of the liver. This essay provides a compilation and summary of recommendations regarding the abovementioned topics, and presents the most recent research proceedings and the corresponding consensus to our readers.
Consensus ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal/therapy* ; Liver Cirrhosis/therapy* ; Portal Pressure

Acute gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage is a dreaded complication in patients with liver cirrhosis. Endoscopic therapy and radiologic intervention for gastroesophageal bleeding have rapidly developed in the recent decades. Endoscopic treatment is initially performed to stop variceal hemorrhage. For the treatment of esophageal variceal bleeding, endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) is considered the endoscopic treatment of choice. In cases of gastric variceal hemorrhage, the type of gastric varices (GVs) is important in deciding the strategy of endoscopic treatment. Endoscopic variceal obturation (EVO) is recommended for fundal variceal bleeding. For the management of gastroesophageal varix type 1 bleeding, both EVO and EVL are available treatment options; however, EVO is preferred over EVL. If endoscopic management fails to control variceal hemorrhage, radiologic interventional modalities could be considered. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt is a good option for rescue treatment in refractory variceal bleeding. In cases of refractory hemorrhage of GVs in patients with a gastrorenal shunt, balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration could be considered as a salvage treatment.
Endoscopy ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Ligation ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Portasystemic Shunt, Surgical ; Salvage Therapy ; Varicose Veins

Portal hypertension(PH) is one of the main complications of cirrhosis.Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS) is the percutaneous creation of a conduit from the hepatic vein to the portal vein that is used to manage consequences of PH (i.e., variceal bleeding and refractory ascites) and used as a bridging therapy to liver transplant for decompensated cirrhosis. The following Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) presents profession associational recommendations of the Chinese College of Interventionalists(CCI) on TIPS for PH. The CPGs was written by more than 30 experts in the field of TIPS in China (including interventional radiologists, liver surgeons, hepatologists and gastroenterologist, et al.). The panel of experts, produced these CPGs using evidence from PubMed and Cochrane database searches and combined with relevant expert consensuses and high quality clinical researches in China providing up to date guidance on TIPS for PH with the only purpose of improving clinical practice.
China ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/therapy* ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/therapy* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal/therapy* ; Liver Cirrhosis/therapy* ; Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic ; Treatment Outcome

The creation of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a widely performed technique to relieve portal hypertension, and to manage recurrent variceal bleeding and refractory ascites in patients where medical and/or endoscopic treatments have failed. However, portosystemic shunt creation can be challenging in the presence of chronic portal vein occlusion. In this case report, we describe a minimally invasive endovascular mesocaval shunt creation with transsplenic approach for the management of recurrent variceal bleeding in a portal hypertension patient with intra- and extrahepatic portal vein occlusion.
Adolescent ; Chronic Disease ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/complications ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/diagnostic imaging ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/therapy ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/complications ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/diagnostic imaging ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage/therapy ; Humans ; Jejunum/pathology ; Portacaval Shunt, Surgical ; Portal Vein/diagnostic imaging ; Portal Vein/pathology ; Portal Vein/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Venous Thrombosis/complications ; Venous Thrombosis/diagnostic imaging ; Venous Thrombosis/therapy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The success rate of endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) is about 85–94%. There is only a few studies attempting to determine the cause of EVL failure, and to date, on-site rescue treatments remains unestablished. This study aimed to elucidate the risk factors for EVL failure and the effectiveness of on-site rescue treatment. METHODS: Data of 454 patients who underwent emergency EVL at Chonnam National University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Enrolled patients were divided into two groups: the EVL success and EVL failure groups. EVL failures were defined as inability to ligate the varices due to poor endoscopic visual field, or failure of hemostasis after band ligation for the culprit lesion. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients experienced EVL failure. In the multivariate analysis, male patients, initial hypovolemic shock, active bleeding on endoscopy, and history of previous EVL were independent risk factors for EVL failure. During endoscopic procedure, we came across the common causes of EVL failure, including unsuctioned varix due to previous EVL-induced scars followed by insufficient ligation of the stigmata and inability to ligate the varix due to poor endoscopic visual field. Endoscopic variceal obturation using N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (48.9%) was the most commonly used on-site rescue treatment method, followed by insertion of Sangstaken Blakemore tube (14.9%), and EVL retrial (12.8%). The rescue treatments successfully achieved hemostasis in 91.7% of those in the EVL failure group. CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors of EVL failure should be considered before performing EVL, and in case of such scenario, on-site rescue treatment is needed.
Christianity ; Cicatrix ; Emergencies ; Enbucrilate ; Endoscopy ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; Hemorrhage ; Hemostasis ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Ligation* ; Male ; Methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Salvage Therapy ; Shock ; Treatment Failure ; Varicose Veins ; Visual Fields

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical epidemiology change trend of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) over the past 15 years.

METHODSConsecutive patients who was diagnosed as continuous UGIB in the endoscopy center of The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun-Yat University during the period from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 1998 and the period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013 were enrolled in this study. Their gender, age, etiology, ulcer classification, endoscopic treatment and hospitalization mortality were compared between two periods.

RESULTSIn periods from 1997 to 1998 and 2012 to 2013, the detection rate of UGIB was 9.99%(928/9 287) and 4.49%(1 092/24 318)(χ=360.089, P=0.000); the percentage of male patients was 73.28%(680/928) and 72.44% (791/1 092) (χ=0.179, P=0.672), and the onset age was (47.3±16.4) years and (51.4±18.2) years (t=9.214, P=0.002) respectively. From 1997 to 1998, the first etiology of UGIB was peptic ulcer bleeding, accounting for 65.2%(605/928)[duodenal ulcer 47.8%(444/928), gastric ulcer 8.3%(77/928), stomal ulcer 2.3%(21/928), compound ulcer 6.8%(63/928)],the second was cancer bleeding(7.0%,65/928), and the third was esophageal and gastric varices bleeding (6.4%,59/928). From 2012 to 2013, peptic ulcer still was the first cause of UGIB, but the ratio obviously decreased to 52.7%(575/1092)(χ=32.467, P=0.000)[duodenal ulcer 31.9%(348/1092), gastric ulcer 9.4%(103/1092), stomal ulcer 2.8%(30/1092), compound ulcer 8.6%(94/1092)]. The decreased ratio of duodenal ulcer bleeding was the main reason (χ=53.724, P=0.000). Esophageal and gastric varices bleeding became the second cause (15.1%,165/1 092, χ=38.976, P=0.000), and cancer was the third cause (9.2%,101/1 092, χ=3.352, P=0.067). The largest increasing amplitude of the onset age was peptic ulcer bleeding [(46.2±16.7) years vs. (51.9±18.9) years, t=-5.548, P=0.000), and the greatest contribution to the amplitude was duodenal ulcer bleeding [(43.4±15.9) years vs. (48.4±19.4) years, t=-3.935, P=0.000], while the onset age of esophageal and gastric varices bleeding [(49.8±14.1) years vs. (48.8±13.9) years, t=0.458, P=0.648] and cancer [(58.4±13.4) years vs. (58.9±16.7) years, t=-0.196, P=0.845] did not change significantly. Compared with the period from 1997 to 1998, the detection rate of high risk peptic ulcer rebleeding (Forrest stage I(a, I(b, II(a and II(b) increased (χ=39.958, P=0.000) in the period from 2012 to 2013. From 1997 to 1998, 54 patients underwent endoscopic treatment, and the achievement ratio of hemostasis was 79.6% (43/54). From 2012 to 2013, 261 patients underwent endoscopic treatment and the achievement ratio of hemostasis was 96.9%(253/261), which was significantly higher (χ=23.287, P=0.000). Compared to the period from 1997 to 1998, more patients with variceal bleeding or non-variceal bleeding received endoscopic treatment in time (39.0% vs. 70.3%, χ=51.930, P=0.000; 3.6% vs. 15.6%, χ=62.292, P=0.000, respectively), and higher ratio of patients staging Forrest stage I(a to II(b also received endoscopic treatment in the period from 2012 to 2013 [27.4%(26/95) vs. 68.5%(111/162), χ=40.739, P=0.000]. More qualified endoscopic hemostatic techniques were used, containing thermocoagulation (0 vs. 15.2%, χ=79.518, P=0.000), hemostatic clip (0 vs. 55.9%, χ=20.879, P=0.000), hemostatic clip combined with thermocoagulation (4.3% vs. 16.4%, χ=5.154, P=0.023), while less single injection was used (87.1% vs. 6.2%, χ=10.420, P=0.001), and single spraying for hemostasis was completely abandoned in the period from 2012 to 2013. The ratio of inpatients undergoing reoperation decreased obviously in the period from 2012 to 2013 [9.3%(86/928) vs. 6.0%(65/1092), χ=7.970, P=0.005], while no significant difference was found in mortality during hospitalization between two periods.

CONCLUSIONCompared with the period from 1997 to1998, the mean onset age of UGIB increased, and the ratio of peptic ulcer bleeding decreased due to the reduction of duodenal ulcer bleeding, the detection rate of high risk peptic ulcer rebleeding increased, the cure rate of endoscopic treatment for UGIB increased, more reasonable and immediate hemostatic methods were used, but overall mortality did not change obviously in the period from 2012 to 2013.

Adult ; Age of Onset ; Aged ; Electrocoagulation ; methods ; trends ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; trends ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; pathology ; therapy ; Esophagus ; pathology ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; classification ; epidemiology ; etiology ; mortality ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Hemostasis, Endoscopic ; methods ; trends ; Hemostatic Techniques ; trends ; Hemostatics ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptic Ulcer ; pathology ; therapy ; Peptic Ulcer Hemorrhage ; pathology ; therapy ; Reoperation ; trends ; Stomach Ulcer ; pathology ; therapy ; Surgical Instruments ; trends ; Ulcer ; epidemiology ; therapy

Recent studies suggest that liver cirrhosis is reversible after administering oral nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy to patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, few studies have addressed whether esophageal varices can regress after such therapy. We report a case of complete regression of esophageal varices during entecavir therapy in patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis, suggesting that complications of liver cirrhosis such as esophageal varices can regress after the long-term suppression of HBV replication.
Abdomen/diagnostic imaging ; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; DNA, Viral/blood ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices/complications/prevention & control ; Guanine/*analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Hepatitis B virus/genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/complications/*drug therapy/virology ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis/*diagnosis/etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Ultrasonography