I was just wondering about the origin of the word 'varices' and how it arose. Online search revealed that the word came from Latin 'wer' which means highland or high. As surgeons, we encounter them usually as esophageal varices or varicose veins. Esophageal varices look like this.
Bleeding from esophageal varices is a significant cause of mortality in patients with portal hypertension. Currently, esophageal variceal ligation remains the treatment of choice to treat patients with esophageal varices.
It is exciting to read about the history of treatment of a particular condition and the difficulties faced by the inventors of the methods that are currently in use.
The story of esophageal variceal banding is closely linked to that of portal hypertension. The idea of a banding device for varices originated from the device that was being used for hemorrhoids. Initial devices were single shot devices and had to be reloaded each time after application of the band. Currently, multi-band ligation has made the life of both the surgeon and patient far easier.
Bleeding from esophageal varices is a significant cause of mortality in patients with portal hypertension. Currently, esophageal variceal ligation remains the treatment of choice to treat patients with esophageal varices.
It is exciting to read about the history of treatment of a particular condition and the difficulties faced by the inventors of the methods that are currently in use.
The story of esophageal variceal banding is closely linked to that of portal hypertension. The idea of a banding device for varices originated from the device that was being used for hemorrhoids. Initial devices were single shot devices and had to be reloaded each time after application of the band. Currently, multi-band ligation has made the life of both the surgeon and patient far easier.
