Relative efficacy and safety of absolute alcohol and 50% alcohol as variceal sclerosants.

Absolute alcohol and 50% alcohol were compared as sclerosants in 79 patients who underwent sclerotherapy for esophageal varices every 3 weeks with either of the solutions. Active variceal bleeding could be controlled more often (p less than 0.05) with absolute alcohol (93.3%) compared with 50% alcohol (53.8%). Variceal eradication could be achieved with absolute alcohol in a significantly shorter time with smaller amounts and fewer sclerotherapy sessions than with 50% alcohol. Except for a higher incidence of retrosternal pain and fever noted with the use of absolute alcohol, there was no significant difference in the incidence of various complications, rebleeding rate, or mortality between the two sclerosants. Absolute alcohol is a more effective and equally safe sclerosant compared with 50% alcohol.