Gastric antral vascular ectasia in portal hypertensive children: Endoscopic band ligation versus argon plasma coagulation
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Topic overview
Abstract
Background/Purpose
Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) can cause recurrent bleeding and chronic anemia in children with portal hypertension (PHT). We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of EBL in comparison to argon plasma coagulation (APC) in children with PHT, bleeding from GAVE.
Methods
This prospective comparative study included 40 children with PHT who presented with nonvariceal GIT bleeding from GAVE. Patients were divided into 2 groups, each including 20 cases: one group was managed with APC and the other with EBL. Endoscopy was repeated every 3–4 weeks until complete ablation of GAVE. Patients were reevaluated earlier in the event of recurrence of bleeding or in case of severe anemia necessitating blood transfusion. A follow-up endoscopy was done 6 months after the last APC or EBL session.
Results
The ages ranged between 2 and 16 years. The EBL group required a significantly lower number of sessions for complete obliteration of the lesions (1.85 ± 0.81) as compared to APC group (4.15 ± 1.22), p
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