Esophageal varices are a very dangerous condition. It manifests as internal hemorrhage that can even be life-threatening. Treatment is only possible in a hospital setting. Esophageal varices occur as a result of liver diseases, most often its cirrhosis.

How are esophageal varices formed ? Inoperable - The fatty or fibrotic blood vessels in the liver cannot cope with the blood flow. So the pressure in the portal vein rises, bringing blood from the visceral organs of the abdomen to the liver, from where it should go to the heart. If the liver is defective, the blood bypassing it goes to the heart through the so-called veins of collateral circulation, including through the esophageal veins. These - not adapted to the transport of such large amounts - expand and stretch. They become weak, brittle, break easily, and then bleed. A sick person realizes that something is wrong, often only when he begins to bleed profusely, although the first signals may have appeared earlier.

Esophageal varices: symptoms

Symptoms of esophageal varices may include tarry (dark red or even black) stools, blood-stained vomitus. Most often, however, the patient vomits blood suddenly and profusely or discovers rectal haemorrhage without any pain. However, signs of shock may appear as a result of blood loss: weakness, pale, damp and cold skin, low blood pressure, rapid breathing and heartbeat, and finally disturbed consciousness. It's a life-threatening condition. Helping a patient with internal hemorrhage is possible only in hospital conditions, preferably in a specialist hospital. Therefore, you need to call an ambulance immediately.

Esophageal varices: diagnosis

The existence of esophageal varices can only be determined by endoscopic examination, because they do not cause any obvious symptoms before bleeding occurs. The doctor, viewing the esophagus opening to the stomach on a computer screen, because this is where varicose veins most often form, assesses their condition and size in three stages of disease advancement. The highest, third degree means that varicose veins cover more than a third of the esophagus lumen.

Esophageal varices: treatment

The diagnosis of the disease begins with immediate treatment, which is undertaken during the diagnostic test - it is its continuation. Using the introducedAlready through the endoscope, the doctor injects a drug that shrinks and closes the varicose veins. This method is called sclerotherapy and is currently one of the most commonly used in the treatment of esophageal varices. The treatment is then repeated after a few days, then weeks, months, until the doctor determines that the changes in the veins have been completely eliminated. After the end of treatment, the diagnostic test combined - if necessary - with the injection of varicose veins should be repeated periodically, at least once a year, even if the patient does not notice any symptoms of internal bleeding. The probability that bleeding from varicose veins will repeat up to 75%.

Another method of treating this ailment is placing stents on esophageal varices - also using the endoscopic method -, i.e. rubber bands that tighten them, reduce blood flow and, as a result, make them disappear. Surgical routing of another venous connection between the portal and main veins is also used, bringing blood to the heart.

You must do it

Patients with suspected cirrhosis and portal hypertension should undergo a series of laboratory tests assessing the condition and function of the liver (so-called liver tests), ultrasound examining portal flow and endoscopic examination assessing the condition of esophageal varices. Regular repetition of these tests allows changes to be controlled and, if necessary, quick intervention.

Esophageal varices and cirrhosis of the liver

All medical procedures in this case, however, do not concern the essence of the disease, but its symptoms, because the esophageal varices are caused by disorders of the portal circulation, which, in turn, are caused by abnormal liver function manifested by cirrhosis. Cirrhosis of the liver can be the result of intoxication of the body (in the vast majority of cases of alcohol intoxication with alcohol), metabolic diseases (e.g. cystic fibrosis), as well as infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV). The damage to the liver is irreversible, but it is possible to slow or stop the progression of the disease if timely diagnosis and treatment are started.

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