A prospective randomized trial of schedules for sclerosing esophageal varices. 1-versus 2-week intervals.

A prospective randomized trial was performed to compare the efficacy and complications of 1-week (20 patients) and 2-week (20 patients) interval schedules of endoscopic injection sclerotherapy for patients with esophageal varices; 6 were acute, 3 were elective and 31 were prophylactic cases. There were no significant differences between the 1-week and 2-week interval groups with regard to total number of sclerotherapy sessions, total volume of the sclerosant used (5% ethanolamine oleate) or rate of complications such as pyrexia, stricture and pleural effusion. The incidence of ulcer and/or slough formation after EIS was the same in the two groups. Neither early nor recurrent bleeding occurred in any patient in the two groups. Eradication of varices in the 2-week interval group was achieved significantly earlier (p less than 0.05) than in the 1-week interval group.