Management of bleeding oesophageal varices by draining lymph from the thoracic duct.

The thoracic duct was cannulated in six patients who were actively bleeding from varices and had not responded to conservative treatment but draining lymph from the thoracic duct did not control bleeding in five patients. There was no drop in intrasplenic pulp pressure following this procedure when recorded in three of these patients. Bleeding stopped in one patient after lymph had been drained for nine and a half hours, and there was only a modest change in intrasplenic pressure. The therapeutic use of this technique to control oesophageal varices could not be substantiated.