Abstract
Acute variceal bleeding (AVB) continues to be a fatal complications of cirrhotic portal hypertension. Although the hospitalization rate of patients with acute variceal bleeding has significantly decreased with the advancement of medical technology, and the mortality rate has dropped from 50% three decades before to 15%～20% now, the in-hospital mortality rate is still high and is closely related to the severity of cirrhosis, ranging from 0 in Child A grade to 32% in Child C grade. Therefore, it is a good choice to risk stratify these patients and individualize the treatment method according to the expected risk, as the risk of death in patients with acute variceal bleeding is highly heterogeneous. This article mainly reviews the current status of risk stratification and treatment of acute variceal bleeding in cirrhosis.