Esophageal transection with automatic stapler device for bleeding esophageal varices. Case report and review of the literature.

The EEA stapler offers a relative easy technique for the control of severe bleeding from esophageal varices. Two cases are reported in which this technique in combination with proximal gastric devascularization and splenectomy was found to be superior to the performance of portosystemic shunt in emergency cases. The results of portocaval shunts created during severe bleeding from esophageal varices are not satisfactory because of the high mortality rate varying between 36% and 47% (1, 2) and the development of postoperative encephalopathy. For these reasons the tendency today, in cases of severe bleeding from esophageal varices where conservative treatment was unsuccessful, is that the surgeon should attack the bleeding area itself (3). Support for this opinion may be found in the publications of Sugiura and Futagawa (4, 5) and of Koyama et al. (6) about their long-term good results obtained after esophageal transection for bleeding esophageal varices.