Therapy

Consider balloon tamponade ^a for patients who do not stop bleeding ^d

Why?

• It is more likely to control bleeding than terlipressin at 24 hours, though there is no clear effect on mortality ^a
• However the risk of rebleeding and complications (gastroesophageal ulcers, arterial hypertension, thoracic pain) is greater ^a

Balloon tamponade controls bleeding faster than terlipressin, but causes more complications

Patient	Treatment	Comparison	Outcome	CER	RRR (95% CI)	NNT (95% CI)
bleeding oesophageal varices a	balloon tamponade	terlipressin	failure to control bleeding at 24 hours	30%	83% (-26% to 98%)	4 (2 to 36)
			rebleeding at 7 days	10%	-250% (-1400% to 98%)	-4 (-330 to -2)
			complications at 7 days	15%	-330% (-1200% to -45%)	-2 (-4 to -1)