Role of band ligation for secondary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding

Table 4 Results of individual trials comparing band ligation with other interventions in terms of variceal obliteration, rebleeding and variceal recurrence

Study (reference)	Treatment	Mean sessions to obliterate	Rate of obliteration /time to obliterate (%)	Rebleeding rate(%)	Variceal recurrence rate
	Endoscopic band ligation vs endoscopic sclerotherapy
Luz et al[26]	EBL	NR	75 at 5 d	25 at 5 d	NR
	EST		84.6 at 5 d	15.4 at 5 d
Mansour et al[27]	EBL	3.43 ± 0.67	100 at 15.6 wk	16.70	26.7 at 3 mo 10 at 6 mo
	EBL + EST	2.22 ± 0.92	100 at 8.64 wk	13.30	20 at 3 mo 10 at 6 mo
Chen et al[28]	EBL	3 ± 0.5	25	14.60	NR
	EBL + EST	3 ± 0.6	16.30	35.40
	Endoscopic band ligation vs β-blockers
Stanley et al[30]	EBL	NR	65	35.50	NR
	Carvedilol		68	36.40
	Endoscopic band ligation + β-blockers vs β-blockers
Hanif et al[29]	EBL + propranolol	NR	NR	10	NR
	Propranolol			40
	Endoscopic band ligation + PPIs vs endoscopic band ligation + vasoconstrictors
Lo et al[31]	EBL + vasoconstrictors	NR	NR	1.7 at 6 d 8.3 at 6-42 d	NR
	EBL + PPIs			1.7 at 6 d 8.6 at 6-42 d
	Endoscopic band ligation + β-blockers vs TIPS
Holster et al[32]	EBL + β-blockers	NR	71 at 2 yr	26 at 2 yr	NR
	TIPS		73 at 2 yr	0 at 2 yr
Lv et al[33]	EBL + propranolol	NR	NR	37 at 6 mo 45 at 12 mo 45 at 24 mo 52 at 30.4 mo	NR
	TIPS			5 at 6 mo 15 at 12 mo 20 at 24 mo 17 at 30.9 mo
Santos et al[34]	EBL	3.17 ± 1.15	90 at 75.4 d	0	33 at 14.6 mo
	CI	3 ± 1.36	78 at 55.4 d	10	57 at 7.9 mo
	Endoscopic band ligation + endoscopic sclerotherapy vs endoscopic band ligation + microwave coagulation
Monici et al[35]	EBL + EST	2.75 ± 1.92	97.30	8.30	27.7 at 9.5 mo 19.5 at 12 mo
	EBL + MC	2.38 ± 1.63	97.10	0	17.6 at 9.16 mo 17.5 at 12 mo

EBL: Endoscopic band ligation; EST: Endoscopic sclerotherapy; NR: Not reported; PPIs: Proton pump inhibitors; TIPS: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt; CI: Cyanoacrylate injection; MC: Microwave coagulation.