Role of argon plasma coagulation in treatment of esophageal varices

Table 1 Basic characteristics of patients in clinical studies of “argon plasma coagulation combined with endoscopic variceal ligation” vs “endoscopic variceal ligation alone” in treatment of esophageal varices

Ref.	Country	Sample size (EVL+APC/EVL)	Age (EVL+APC/EVL) (mean ± SD)	Gender (male/female)	Liver function classification (EVL+APC/EVL)	Pathogenic factors (EVL+APC/EVL)	Varicose vein types (EVL+APC/EVL)	Follow-up (EVL+APC/EVL) (mean ± SD)
Nakamura et al[11]. 2001	Japan	30/30	63.7 ± 5.8/60.8 ± 7.1	EVL+APC: 22/8; EVL: 21/9	A: 9/7; B: 17/18; C: 4/5	Virus: 25/26; Alcohol: 4/4; Others: 1/0	F2: 19/17; F3: 11/13	18.5 ± 6.8/15.8 ± 7.7
Cipolletta et al[20]. 2002	Italy	16/14	62.8 ± 5.5/60.8 ± 6.2	EVL+APC: 11/5; EVL: 10/4	Not mentioned	Not mentioned	F2: 10/9; F3: 6/5	16.2 ± 5.8/16.5 ± 5.1
Harras et al[20]. 2010	Egypt	50/50	50.64 ± 10.43/48.96 ± 10.27	Not mentioned	A: 10/14; B: 34/32; C: 6/4	Virus: 50/50; Alcohol: 0/0; Others: 0/0	F2: 3/0; F3: 47/50	16.3/17.4
Hamza I et al[21]. 2012	Egypt	30/30	50.23 ± 2.095/50 ± 2.104	EVL+APC: 16/14; EVL: 18/12	The two groups have the highest proportion of B grade, and there is no difference between the groups	Not mentioned	Post operative 3 mo: F0: 18/15; F1: 12/15; F2: 0/0	Follow-up 3 mo and 6 mo
Kamal et al[13]. 2017	Egypt	20/20	48.4/47.8	Not mentioned	A:12/12; B: 6/6; C: 2/2	Virus: 20/20; Alcohol: 0/0; Others: 0/0	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.

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.