Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of patients included in the study.

Variables	Group A (n = 88)	Group B (n = 48)	Group C (n = 35)	χ 2/F	P value
Gender (M/F)	67/21	33/15	25/10	0.924∗	0.630
Age (y)	52.6 ± 13.5	51.8 ± 12.5	50.2 ± 12.7	0.262	0.834
Etiology of cirrhosis				2.113∗	0.909
HBV	68	35	26
HCV	5	2	3
Alcoholic	8	6	5
Idiopathic	6	5	2
Main preoperative symptoms				0.615∗	0.735
UGI bleeding	69	40	29
Refractory ascites	19	8	6
Previous ascites	39	21	18	0.604∗	0.739
Previous HE	5	4	2	0.382∗	0.826
Hydrothorax	18	11	9	0.419∗	0.811
Platelet count (×109/L)	80.22 ± 41.56	82.13 ± 34.82	78.65 ± 29.31	0.468	0.642
Haemoglobin (g/L)	81.32 ± 21.53	79.22 ± 22.96	78.65 ± 19.12	0.801	0.357
Serum albumin (g/L)	31.05 ± 6.23	32.54 ± 5.88	31.22 ± 6.07	0.710	0.429
Serum bilirubin (mmol/L)	23.21 ± 19.64	26.89 ± 18.76	25.63 ± 21.23	0.265	0.782
Serum creatinine (mmol/L)	78.75 ± 35.88	76.18 ± 30.21	77.57 ± 36.54	0.391	0.631
Prothrombin time (s)	15.18 ± 2.11	15.25 ± 2.15	15.22 ± 2.18	0.354	0.733
INR	1.41 ± 0.22	1.36 ± 0.34	1.39 ± 0.36	0.563	0.465
Child-Pugh score	7.46 ± 2.11	7.64 ± 1.89	7.42 ± 1.74	0.964	0.183
Child-Pugh class (A/B/C)	32/51/5	18/27/3	15/18/2	0.487∗	0.975
MELD score	11.81 ± 3.45	12.14 ± 4.01	11.92 ± 3.95	0.524	0.552
Pre-PSG	25.03 ± 4.42	24.40 ± 3.97	25.55 ± 4.12	1.104	0.343
Post-PSG	10.81 ± 3.10	12.14 ± 3.36	11.45 ± 3.22	0.672	0.525
Stent diameter (6/8 mm)	6/82	3/45	3/32	0.172∗	0.918
Lost to follow-up	9	6	4	0.165∗	0.921

HBV: hepatitis B virus; HCV: hepatitis C virus; HE: hepatic encephalopathy; INR: international normalized ratio; MELD: model for end-stage liver diseases; PSG: portosystemic gradient; UGI: upper gastrointestinal. ^∗χ² test