Endoscopic injection sclerotherapy improves liver function compared with endoscopic variceal ligation

Liver function is a most important prognostic factor in patients with liver cirrhosis. Also, portal hypertension is a fatal complication of liver cirrhosis and variceal treatment is indispensable. However, changes of liver functions after endoscopic variceal treatments are unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate prognosis and liver functions after endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) and endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL). A total of liver cirrhotic 103 patients who underwent prophylactic EIS and EVL were enrolled. Overall survival rate was higher in EIS group than EVL group (p = 0.03). Multivariate analysis showed that EIS was a negative factor for death (HR: 0.46, 95% confidence interval: 0.24–0.88, p = 0.02). Liver functions were assessed by blood test taken at before and 3 months after treatment. In EIS group, albumin and prothrombin time improved (p < 0.01), leading to improvement of Child–Pugh score, ALBI score and MELD score (p < 0.05). However, these did not improve in EVL group. EIS was a significant factor related to the elevated value of albumin after treatment in linear regression analysis (estimated regression coefficient: 0.17, 95% confidence interval: 0.05–0.29, p = 0.005). These results revealed that EIS could improve liver functions and prognosis.