Caracterización clínica-epidemiológica de pacientes con várices esofágicas atendidos en el Hospital de la Policía Nacional Guayaquil No° 2, período de enero-2022 a junio-2024.

Abstract

Introduction: Esophageal varices (EV) are dilations generally caused by portal hypertension, primarily in cirrhosis. Their global prevalence among cirrhotic patients can reach up to 90%, with a high risk of bleeding and mortality. In Ecuador, limited healthcare access hinders timely management. Methods: Analytical, cross-sectional, and retrospective study on the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of patients with EV treated at the “Hospital de la Policía Nacional Guayaquil No° 2”. Data was obtained through medical record reviews, compiled in Microsoft Excel, and analyzed using SPSS Real Statistics for descriptive and analytical statistics, Kendall's correlation, and Odds ratio with a significance level of <0.05. Results: A total of 64 patients were studied, mostly men over 61 years old. Overweight and middle socioeconomic status predominated in the population. Medical history included alcoholism, HTN, cirrhosis, portal hypertension, and DM. Common clinical features were epigastric pain, hematemesis, and fatigue. Elevated prothrombin times were observed, as well as a preference for endoscopic band ligation as a treatment and beta-blockers as pharmacotherapy, reducing bleeding episodes after these interventions. A positive correlation was found between EV bleeding and male sex, middle socioeconomic status, high BMI, alcoholism, smoking, cirrhosis, HTN, renal insufficiency, and portal hypertension. A negative correlation was found with female sex and anemia. Conclusions: Patients with EV were mostly men, over 60 years old, with comorbidities consistent with the literature. The main treatment was endoscopic band ligation, with low mortality, and specific correlations were also identified for EV bleeding.