Hello all, my mom has varices in her liver and she has recently undergone banding. She’s diabetic and has history of other illnesses. I just wanted to seek insight on people’s experience who have undergone the banding procedure. How many days does the pain last and if follow up check up were needed?
Many thanks !
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Titan25
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Hi Titan25. I'm sure many people will reply who can be more helpful. I had the procedure in November 2018, but don't remember any pain afterwards. Was your mum given any advice from nursing staff? If in doubt, give the ward a call, or the BLT helpline. Hope she's ok and not too uncomfortable. 🤗
My mom got banding procedure done on the 25th Feb and the doctor sent her back home the same day saying the pain would subside within 2-3 days. Since then she’s on pain killers but the pain hasn’t gone yet. That’s why the concern.
Of course you're concerned. Do you have a contact number for the department where the procedure was done? May I ask if you're in the UK? If so, you could try 111 for advice. Hope the pain settles soon. 🤗
Good afternoon Titan25,
Sorry to hear your mum has pain after her banding.
May I suggest she seek medical review, either from her GP or NHS111.
You can also call the nurse led helpline on 0800 652 7330 Mon- FRi 10am- 3pm to speak with one of the specialist nurses.
My hubby underwent two years of an aggressive banding regime with 42 bands applied overall. The longest period of pain post banding was around 8 days. He had to maintain a very soft diet for days - but even drinking would hurt as the liquid or soft food passes the banding site. He was allowed to take paracetemol if needed to ease the pain but it generally does go off a few days after the procedure.
As your post is a couple of days old hopefully the pain is gradually easing now. If not then she might need follow up - is she eating at all. One complication that can arise is a banding related stricture which causes a closing of the oesophagus and that needs checking.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I thought "banding" was a procedure for closing off esophageal varices to stop them from bleeding and from causing digestive problems. I don't believe the liver itself develops "varices." ???
Portal hypertension and its consequence of bleeding varices are usually seen in people with moderately advanced liver disease. There may be other features such as ascities (fluid in the stomach) and encephalopathy (disturbance of brain function as a result of disordered liver function).
Cirrhosis is the most common cause of portal hypertension and varices in the Western world. However, varices can arise in patients with portal hypertension in the absence of cirrhosis or even in the absence of portal hypertension. 🤔
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