Usefulness of microcatheters inserted overnight for additional injection of sclerosant after initial balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration of gastric varices.

In patients with large gastric varices, dose limitation of the sclerosant can cause difficulties in achieving complete thrombosis of varices during a single balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) procedure. For patients with incomplete variceal thrombosis after the first BRTO, additional sclerosant must be injected in a second BRTO. We report a successful case of BRTO for large gastric varices in whom additional sclerosant was injected through a microcatheter that remained inserted overnight. To achieve complete variceal thrombosis in a patient with incomplete thrombosis of large gastric varices after a first BRTO, a retained microcatheter can be used to inject additional sclerosant in a second BRTO the next day.