In common with the management of any gastrointestinal (GI) haemorrhage, the first step in the management of acute variceal bleeding is adequate resuscitation and airway protection to prevent aspiration. Coagulation abnormalities are normally corrected. Early endoscopy (as soon as the patient is haemodynamically stable) is recommended because it not only enables accurate diagnosis but also allow...

Involvement of the pleura in lung cancer is a common manifestation accompanying with reduced life expectancy. Symptoms relief and improvement of the quality of life are the primary goals of the management of malignant pleural effusion (MPE). Histological confirmation is essential for optimal patient management. Lung cancer patients, with life expectancy more than 3 months, resistant to chemothe...

Bleeding from esophageal and gastric varices remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for patients with liver cirrhosis. Currently, therapeutic strategies for gastric variceal bleeding include transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, cyanoacrylate sclerotherapy and hepatic transplantation. Though relatively safe and efficacious, endoscopic sclerotherapy using cyanoacrylate h...

M e t h o d s Data sources: Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Issue 4, 2001), MEDLINE (1980 to June 2002), EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (1980 to May 2002), bibliographies of relevant studies, and contacting experts. Study selection and assessment: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in any language of patients > 16 years of age having pleurodesis for pleural effusion in the context of metastatic c...

We report a case of obstructive jaundice caused by a large hepatic cyst which was successfully treated by percutaneous drainage and instillation of minocycline hydrochloride. An 88-year-old man presented with obstructive jaundice and upper abdominal fullness. Abdominal CT and ultrasonography revealed a large hepatic cyst and intrahepatic bile duct dilatation. After the percutaneous drainage of ...

paravenous injections of polidocanol (3%). Twenty patients (59%) developed stricture or dysphagia; 14 both dysphagia and endoscopically verified stricture, two dysphagia without stricture, and four stricture without dysphagia. Both phenomena occurred intermittently and often independent of each other, but occupied median 38% of the observation time in these 20 patients. The patients developing ...

Minimally invasive techniques for ablation of incompetent saphenous veins using either radiofrequency or laser energy sources have gained acceptance and are being widely applied today. Tumescent local anesthesia provides protection to tissues surrounding the treated veins and allows the procedures to be done on conscious patients. Results thus far compare favorably with surgical stripping proce...