Background and aim: The optimal management of esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB) and portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in liver cirrhosis has not been well-established. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) and endoscopic treatment (ET) plus anticoagulation in cirrhotic patients with EVB and PVT.
Patients and methods: A total of 66 cirrhotic patients with PVT and EVB (31 in the TIPS group and 35 in the ET plus anticoagulation group) were evaluated retrospectively between January 2016 and January 2022.
Results: During the follow-up period, 85.5% of patients in the TIPS group achieved complete recanalization of the portal vein, as compared with 19.6% in the ET plus anticoagulation group (p < .001). The cumulative 5-year rate of variceal rebleeding in the TIPS group was significantly lower than that in the ET plus anticoagulation group (31.0 vs. 50.1%; p = .017). The TIPS group exhibited a significantly higher incidence of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) than the ET plus anticoagulation group (25.8 vs. 5.7%; p = .037). No difference in the 5-year survival rate (74.1 vs. 85.7%; p = .692) and probability of other complications was observed between the two groups.
Conclusion: TIPS was superior to ET plus anticoagulation in preventing variceal rebleeding and achieving recanalization of PVT but increased the incidence of overt HE without improving the survival rate.
Keywords: Esophageal variceal bleeding; anticoagulation; endoscopic injection sclerotherapy; endoscopic variceal ligation; portal vein thrombosis; transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt.