Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1989-4-27
pubmed:abstractText
Seven randomized clinical trials evaluating the effect of repeated endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy on the long-term survival of patients with variceal hemorrhage have been published in the English-language literature. In four trials, the sclerotherapy-treated patients showed an improved long-term survival (follow-up periods longer than a year) when compared with patients in the medical regimen group, whereas in the other three trials, the long-term survival did not differ between the compared groups. Sample sizes in these "negative" trials were too small to detect a true moderate effect for serial sclerotherapy. To resolve this controversy, we combined the findings from all trials using a meta-analysis and determined the overall effect of repeated endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy on the survival of patients who had previously bled from esophageal varices. An overall risk difference of -0.15 (95% confidence limits, -0.21 to -0.08; p less than 0.0005) was estimated, indicating that sclerotherapy reduced the number of deaths by 25%. The estimated overall risk difference remained negative even when all patients in the sclerotherapy group with an unknown survival status were pessimistically considered dead at the end of the follow-up period. The results of this quantitative synthesis suggest that patients with bleeding esophageal varices benefit from the inclusion of repeated sclerotherapy in their long-term management regimen.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0016-5085
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
96
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1087-92
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1989
pubmed:articleTitle
Role of endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy in the long-term management of variceal bleeding: a meta-analysis.
pubmed:affiliation
School of Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't