Management of Bleeding Gastric Varices in Patients with Sinistral Portal Hypertension

Background and Aim Sinistral portal hypertension (SPH) is a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Besides splenectomy, there is no consensus on the role of sclerotherapy and splenic embolization for bleeding gastric varices (GVs). This retrospective study summarizes our experience in managing GV bleeding from SPH in patients with pancreatic diseases. Methods Patients with pancreatic diseases who had bleeding GVs from SPH in two tertiary hospitals were reviewed from January 2001 to December 2011. The etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities were analyzed. Results Twenty-one patients (15.2 %) complicating bleeding GVs among 139 patients with SPH secondary to pancreatic diseases were enrolled. The etiologies were acute pancreatitis in one patient, chronic pancreatitis in seven patients, and pancreatic tumors in 13 patients. Emergent endoscopic sclerotherapy was initially performed in five patients, and succeeded in two patients, while one patient died of massive hemorrhage. Initial transcatheter artery embolization using Gianturco coils was successfully performed in six patients. Splenectomy combined with other surgical procedures was undertaken for 15 patients. The patients undergoing artery embolization or splencetomy achieved hemostasis. The survivors had no recurrent bleeding during a median 72-month follow-up period. Conclusions The incidence of bleeding GVs from SPH is relatively rare. Splenic artery embolization could be selected as a first-line choice for bleeding SPH, especially for patients in poor conditions, and sclerotherapy may not be preferentially recommended. Further studies are required to evaluate the optimum treatment algorithm for bleeding GVs from SPH.