Rush B, et al. - Using the Nationwide Readmission Database (NRD), a national database that tracks patients longitudinally for hospital readmissions, researchers studied readmission rates in hospitals following a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) insertion after an episode of esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB). In this large nationally representative study, a total of 42,679,001 hospital admissions have been analyzed from the NRD sample from 2012 to 2014. Investigators found that TIPS insertion following an EVB episode was linked to a significantly lower 3-month readmission risk for recurrent EVB vs patients not receiving TIPS. Although there was a higher rate of hepatic encephalopathy among those receiving TIPS, overall readmission remained unchanged.