A critical re-appraisal of lymph-venous shunt in the management of massive ascites.

Lymph-venous shunt is one of most investigated procedures in the management of intractable ascites. However, there is considerable variation in the reported results. Personal experience with twenty-one operated cases reveals a dubious role for this intervention. Frequent anatomical variations and uncertain role and incidence of duct-end stenosis, in our opinion, reduces the efficacy of the procedure.