Role of argon plasma coagulation in treatment of esophageal varices

Table 2 Clinical results of “argon plasma coagulation combined with endoscopic variceal ligation” vs “endoscopic variceal ligation alone” in treatment of esophageal varices

	Nakamura et al[11], 2001		Cipolletta et al[19], 2002		Harras et al[20], 2010		Hamza I et al[21], 2012		Kamal et al[13], 2017
Group	EVL+APC	EVL	EVL+APC	EVL	EVL+APC	EVL	EVL+APC	EVL	EVL+APC	EVL
Sample size	30	30	16	14	50	50	30	30	20	20
Varicose veins	No recurrence 74.2%	No recurrence 49.6%	Recurrence 0%	Recurrence 42.8%	Recurrence 4%	Recurrence 28%	Post operative 6 mo; F0: 16; F1: 14; F2: 0	Post operative 6 mo; F0: 10; F1: 19; F2: 1	Recurrence 21.1%	Recurrence 68.4%
Recurrent bleeding	3.3%	6.7%	0%	7.2%	2%	8%	0%	0%	0%	10.5%
Fever	63.3%	33.3%	81.3%	0%	34%	8%	6.7%	6.7%	60%	15%
Difficulty swallowing	30%	26.7%	50%	0%	36%	12%	3.3%	3.3%	35%	30%
Esophageal stenosis	3.3%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Mortality	0%	0%	0%	0%	8%	12%	0%	0%	5%	5%
Eradication course	2.9 ± 0.6	2.5 ± 0.6	Not mentioned	Not mentioned	4.6 ± 0.7	3.7 ± 0.5	4.43	4.23	Not mentioned	Not mentioned

According to the Japanese Society of Portal Hypertension, F0: No varicose veins; F1: Linear small varicose veins; F2: Beaded medium Varicose veins; F3: Nodular or large varicose veins. APC: Argon plasma coagulation; EVL: Endoscopic esophageal varices ligation.