[Therapy of bleeding esophageal varices in West Germany--results of a survey].

An inquiry concerning bleeding of esophageal varices included 1076 surgical and medical departments in the Federal Republic of Germany (West). Prevailing forms of treatment are acute sclerotherapy or esophageal balloon tamponade followed by long-term sclerotherapy. In case of medically uncontrollable bleeding oesophagogastric devascularization procedures are preferred to portacaval shunt. Beta-blockers are applied in medical departments for the prophylaxis of recurrence. Only after several rebleedings, despite of sclerotherapy, approx. half of the departments consider an elective shunt. The distal splenorenal shunt described by Warren and portacaval anastomosis clearly prevail over all other shunts.