ABSTRACT
Although uncomplicated portal hypertension does not require treatment, urgent intervention is obviously indicated once bleeding occurs from oesophageal varices. Several treatment options are available, but the management will ultimately be tailored according to the medical fitness of the patient, and the medical facilities and local clinical expertise.1 The availability of several non-operative therapies, including pharmacotherapy, balloon tamponade, endoscopic injection sclerotherapy, endoscopic variceal ligation and most recently transjugular intrahepatic portal-systemic stent shunt (TIPSS) has relegated emergency surgery to a secondary, yet very important, role in most institutions. Conservative therapy may be unsuccessful, and in this situation surgical intervention may be the only remaining alternative.
