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Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) — a diffuse, hemorrhagic, gastric mucosal change occurring in patients with portal hypertension — causes acute and ongoing blood loss.
Investigators in Egypt evaluated argon plasma coagulation (APC) treatment over a 2-year period of 188 patients with bleeding related to PHG. All patients were anemic (mean hemoglobin, 7.3±1.3 g/dL). APC (using argon gas flow at 2.5 L/min and 60–90 W of power at a distance of 5 mm) was performed to achieve a white coagulum in the treated tissue. Patients received proton-pump inhibitors after therapy, and those without contraindications were given propranolol to reduce the heart rate by 25% of the initial level or to 55 beats per minute.
Patients were followed every 2 months…