One-Week vs. Two-Week Interval of Band Ligation for Esophageal Varices

Current guidelines for treating acute variceal hemorrhage recommend endoscopic band ligation over a few sessions until eradication, plus beta-blocker therapy; however, the optimum interval of band ligation sessions is unclear, and guidelines, based on little evidence, recommend 1-week to 2-week intervals.

To compare the effectiveness of 1-week and 2-week intervals in achieving eradication of esophageal varices after acute variceal hemorrhage, investigators randomized 90 patients admitted at a single tertiary care center with acute variceal hemorrhage to undergo repeat band ligation (all had undergone successful initial band ligation and begun beta-blocker therapy) at one of these intervals.

Variceal eradication at 4 weeks (the primary endpoin…