The use of endoscopic band ligation in the primary prevention of bleeding in patients with ascites listed in the liver transplantation waiting list

Background. Saving lives and preventing patients from dropping out of the waiting list for liver transplantation due to the progression of portal hypertension and the development of complications is an urgent task of transplantology in conditions of a donor organ shortage, which causes long waiting times for this operation. Aim. To study the efficacy of endoscopic band ligation versus no intervention in the primary prevention of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and assess the impact on survival of patients with ascites listed in the liver transplantation waiting list. Material and methods. A retrospective comparative study was conducted in patients with decompensated liver diseases with severe ascites and varicose veins, without a history of bleeding, when included in the waiting list for liver transplantation. Primary prevention of bleeding from varices was carried out in patients by means of endoscopic ligation of varicose veins (n=92, group 1); this intervention was not performed in other patients (n=89, group 2). Results. The compared groups were comparable in demographics, clinical parameters, MELD and Child-TurcottePugh scores, or the incidence of severe ascites. The study groups of patients did not have significant differences in the numbers of medium-size and large varices. The incidence of bleeding was significantly lower in the group of patients with endoscopic band ligation as a method of primary prevention than in the group of patients without this intervention (23.9% and 78.7%, respectively, p=0.0001). Patient survival was significantly higher in the group of patients who underwent endoscopic band ligation than in the group of patients without interventions, which was established using the Kaplan-Meier method (Log Rank=0.0001). Conclusion. Primary prevention of bleeding from the upper digestive tract through endoscopic band ligation is an effective method of saving lives and preventing patients with ascites from dropping out of the liver transplantation waiting list in conditions of a donor organ shortageб which causes a long waiting period for surgery.