Outcomes of Outpatient Elective Esophageal Varices Band Ligation in Cirrhosis Patients with Significant Thrombocytopenia.

Background: Current guidelines advise against platelet transfusion prior to emergent esophageal variceal band ligation (EVL) in cirrhotic patients with platelet counts below 50 × 10³/μL. However, recommendations for elective EVL remain unclear. This study evaluates the outcomes of cirrhotic patients undergoing outpatient EVL.

Methods: Adult patients aged 18 years and older diagnosed with cirrhosis, with or without significant thrombocytopenia (<50 × 10³/μL), were identified using the TriNetX database. Patients who received platelet transfusions within one week prior to or on the day of EVL were excluded. Cirrhotic patients with significant thrombocytopenia undergoing outpatient elective EVL were categorized into two cohorts: (1) those with platelet counts between 30 and 49 × 10³/μL and (2) those with platelet counts ≥50 × 10³/μL. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to compare rates of post-EVL esophageal variceal bleeding and 14-day mortality between the two cohorts.

Results: A total of 16,718 cirrhotic patients undergoing outpatient EVL were included in the analysis. Of these, 17.2% (n = 2874) had significant thrombocytopenia, while 82.8% (n = 13,844) had platelet counts ≥50 × 10³/μL. Two well-matched cohorts (2864 patients each) were created using 1:1 PSM. No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups regarding 14-day post-EVL esophageal variceal bleeding (13.7% vs. 15.2%; p = 0.12), 14-day mortality (5.7% vs. 5.0%; p = 0.28), and 28-day mortality (8.4% vs. 7.5%; p = 0.20).

Conclusions: Elective EVL appears to be safe in cirrhotic patients with platelet counts as low as 30 × 10³/μL, challenging the current threshold of 50 × 10³/μL for platelet transfusion.