Portal hypertension is a group of clinical syndromes caused by the continuously increasing pressure of portal vein system resulting from increase of portal vein resistance or portal venous flow. Some scholars summarize the etiology of portal hypertension as hepatocyte injury and vascular. Portal hypertension occurs in adult and children. The clinical manifestations include gastric fundus esophageal varices, ascites, splenic and high dynamic circulation states. Further deterioration may lead to gastrointestinal bleeding, hypersplenism function, peritoneal infection, or even hepatic encephalopathy and thus threaten the life. There are various treatment methods of this disease due to the complex etiology and pathogenesis of this disease. Two main therapy are direct decompression of portal hypertension and the therapy of bypass circulation. The former one is commonly used for adults while the latter one is used of children. Specific treatment plans must be determined critically.
