Effect of somatostatin on oesophageal variceal pressure assessed by direct measurement.

The effect of a single bolus of somatostatin on oesophageal variceal pressure has been studied in 7 patients with cirrhosis and 5 patients with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension using a non-invasive variceal pressure gauge. Both groups of patients demonstrated similar reductions in variceal pressure with all subjects demonstrating a fall. The timing, duration and magnitude of this reduction in variceal pressure in response to somatostatin showed considerable individual variation which may explain the previous reports of a variable response to treatment of variceal haemorrhage with somatostatin. This individual variation should be borne in mind in the planning of future studies in the treatment of oesophageal variceal haemorrhage. The pneumatic pressure gauge allows the non-invasive study of the effects of drugs on variceal and portal pressure.