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World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2021; 9(3): 521-527
Published online Jan 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i3.521
Role of argon plasma coagulation in treatment of esophageal varices
Ying Song, Yuan Feng, Li-Hui Sun, Bo-Jiang Zhang, Hong-Juan Yao, Jing-Gui Qiao, Shu-Fen Zhang, Ping Zhang, Bin Liu
Ying Song, Yuan Feng, Li-Hui Sun, Bo-Jiang Zhang, Hong-Juan Yao, Jing-Gui Qiao, Shu-Fen Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China
Ping Zhang, Bin Liu, Department of Clinical Medical Affair, Erbe China Ltd., Shanghai 200336, China
Author contributions: Song Y, Feng Y, Sun LH and Liu B carried out the studies, participated in collecting the data, and drafted the manuscript; Qiao JG, Zhang SF, and Zhang P participated in manuscript design; Zhang BJ and Yao HJ searched the references and helped to draft the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ying Song, MSc, Research Associate, Department of Gastroenterology, Xi’an Gaoxin Hospital, No. 16 South Tuanjie Road, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. song_ying20@21cn.com
Received: June 30, 2020
Peer-review started: June 30, 2020
First decision: July 28, 2020
Revised: August 13, 2020
Accepted: November 29, 2020
Article in press: November 29, 2020
Published online: January 26, 2021
Abstract

With the development of endoscopic therapy, argon plasma coagulation (APC) has been widely used by endoscopists. It has many advantages, such as simple to operate, low cost, and minimal invasiveness. Because of its capability of lesion ablation and hemostasis, APC has several indications in the gastrointestinal tract. One of them is esophageal varices. The aim of this review is to summarize the research on APC in this field to provide a reference for clinical practice.

Keywords: Esophageal varices, Argon plasma coagulation, Clinical practice, Endoscopic therapy, Gastrointestinal tract, Minimally invasive

Core Tip: Considering the current relevant research results, argon plasma coagulation has considerable efficacy and safety in the treatment of esophageal varices.