Efficacy of intravenous octreotide in prevention of early variceal rebleed after sclerotherapy

Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous octreotide following sclerotherapy in prevention of early variceal re bleed. methods: 200 patients of variceal bleed were selected for this study. all patients were infused octreotide 50 μg bolus followed by continuous intravenous infusion at 50μg/hour and followed by sclerotherapy 12-24 hours later. after sclerotherapy these 200 cases were continued with intravenous octreotide at 50μg/hour for 48 hours. all patients were observed for evidence of early re bleed within 05 days that is history of hematemesis and melena. results: in our study the mean age of the patients was 41.3+9.8 years. there were 30(15%) patients of grade 1,78(39%) patients of grade 2 and 92(46%) patients of grade 3 varices. there were 135(67.5%) patients having ascites and 65(32.5%) patients had ascites absent. in the distribution of re bleed 28(14%) patients had hematemesis and melena present and 172(86%) patients have no presence of hematemesis/melena. conclusion: intravenous octreotide is an effective treatment method in prevention of re bleed within 5 days after sclerotherapy in cirrhotic patients.