Who qualifies for a TIPS procedure?

A TIPS procedure creates a channel between these two types of veins. People typically only need a TIPS procedure if they have advanced liver disease. Doctors use TIPS procedures to treat some of the complications of this condition, including: Variceal bleeding.

Are you awake during TIPS procedure?

Patients undergoing TIPS should expect to wake up from general anesthesia in a recovery room and then be transferred to a hospital room to stay overnight to monitor for bleeding or other complications. The minimally invasive approach reduces the time it takes to recover from the procedure.

How risky is TIPS procedure?

TIPS remains a relatively safe procedure, having become an established procedure for treatment of complications related to portal hypertension. However, the technical complexity of this intervention introduces risk, and morbidity rates can be as high as 20%.

How long does a TIPS procedure take?

The blood will flow directly from your portal system into your vena cava (the large vein that drains blood from your body and empties into your heart). This will ease the portal hypertension. The procedure usually takes about 2 to 3 hours, but it can take longer.

Is there a better alternative to TIPS surgery?

Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPSS) is an effective treatment for portal hypertension and its associated complications. EUS-guided creation of an intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (IPSS) may become a useful alternative to conventional TIPSS.

What causes ascites in portal hypertension?

Increased pressure in the portal blood vessels may cause protein-containing (ascitic) fluid to leak from the surface of the liver and intestine and to accumulate within the abdomen. This condition is called ascites.

How long do you stay in hospital after TIPS procedure?

Your doctor will tell you which medications you may take in the morning. You should plan to stay overnight at the hospital for one or more days.

How is TIPS procedure performed?

A TIPS procedure may be done by a radiologist, who places a small wire-mesh coil (stent) into a liver vein. The stent is then expanded using a small inflatable balloon (angioplasty). The stent forms a channel, or shunt, that bypasses the liver. This channel reduces pressure in the portal vein.

Is TIPS procedure last resort?

Any interventional radiologist is familiar with the frustrating problem of a critically ill, hemodynamically unstable, and intubated patient with massive variceal bleeding who is referred for an emergency TIPS as the last-resort therapy after failed medical and endoscopic therapy.

How is a TIPS procedure performed?

Whats a TIPS procedure?

​TIPS—T-I-P-S—is a procedure that lowers pressure in the portal vein. That’s the vein that moves blood to your liver. The medical name for this procedure is transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. But most people just call it TIPS.