Esophageal Varices

Varicose veins are a familiar concept to everyone. They are dilated blood vessels, which is associated with vascular failure. What about esophageal varices? They are located at the end of the esophagus and interfere with proper blood flow.

Today we tell you what esophageal varicose veins are and how they are treated. Continue reading to identify symptoms in a timely manner and get treatment as soon as possible.

How do you know you suffer from esophageal varices?

The biggest risk that esophageal varicose veins carry is the possibility of ruptures and bleeding.

In order to determine whether you are suffering from esophageal varices or any other adverse health effects, it is necessary to consider some of the factors that contribute to the development of this condition, as well as any symptoms that may indicate a disorder.

It should be noted, however, that often esophageal varices do not cause any symptoms, or, as has been said, the patient’s symptoms can sometimes become confused with the symptoms of some less severe condition.

These symptoms indicate that they are varicose veins of the esophagus:

• Black stools: If the color black is due to this disease, it means that there is blood in the stool. This change in color is due to the blood vessels being torn.

• Vomiting of blood: At first the patient may feel dizzy or light-headed, but eventually he vomits blood. If this happens to you, you should definitely see a doctor immediately.
• Loss of consciousness: This is usually because varicose veins in the esophagus cause bleeding – a phenomenon that in severe cases results in dizziness and fainting.

If these symptoms occur, it is important for the patient to see a doctor as soon as possible.  Unconsciousness, dizziness, and vomiting of blood can all be warning signs that there is this dangerous problem in the blood vessels of the esophagus.

Diagnosis by endoscopy

To make an accurate diagnosis, the doctor will perform an endoscopy. In this way, a test piece can also be taken.

To do this, the doctor inserts a camera into the patient’s esophagus to check for abnormally looking blood vessels. If these are found, the severity of the vascular abnormalities can also be assessed, i.e., it can be seen whether the vessels are thick, abundant, or whether there is severe bleeding in the area.

The doctor chooses the treatment based on the type of blood vessels the patient is experiencing. For example, if a doctor does not find several blood vessels, if they are small, or there is no bleeding in the area, he or she may just suggest a visit to see how the situation is developing.

Esophageal varices and their treatment

Endoscopy allows the doctor to make an accurate diagnosis and choose the treatment that is right for the patient’s situation.

As already mentioned, treatment depends on the type of blood vessels detected by endoscopy. Here are some treatments that can be used for this disease:

• Medication: If a patient does not experience bleeding, and even if the blood vessels are large, their pressure can be reduced with medication.
• Endoscopic ligation: This solution is recommended by your doctor when the patient is unable to take the above medications. This procedure consists of tightening the veins with rubber bands to promote their disappearance.
• Endoscopic sclerotherapy: This option is recommended by your doctor if the patient is bleeding. Treatment consists of injecting the substance into a blood vessel.

It must be remembered that all of these treatments can cause complications for the patient, and medications, for example, can produce unpleasant side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, or dizziness.

Therefore, physicians always perform a thorough evaluation to determine which treatment would be the most appropriate choice for any patient with esophageal varices.

Patients who also have cirrhosis (liver disease) or who have had a thrombosis need to be more careful about the symptoms or warning signs that may indicate the development of esophageal varices. Although these symptoms may appear in humans for other reasons, people belonging to these groups are the most vulnerable to this disease.

Finally, we would like to emphasize that if you find that your stools are black, you feel dizzy or are vomiting blood, you should see a doctor as soon as possible.  Only early treatment can prevent the situation from getting worse, and it also relieves the pain and discomfort caused by varicose veins in the esophagus.

If large esophageal varicose veins rupture, this can cause fairly severe bleeding that can be life-threatening. Therefore, one should never take lightly the signs that may indicate this abnormal phenomenon in the blood vessels in the esophagus.