GPT and esophageal varices: Among the nine factors, only ascites and sepsis revealed a strong association with the score of ≥ 8 (p = 0.006 and 0.014, respectively) with OR of 27.5 (95% CI 2.6–289.1) and 9.0 (95% CI 1.4–58.4), respectively, whereas the post-operative bilirubin level, ALT level, prothrombin time, cirrhosis, esophageal varices, portal hypertension, and cholangitis did not show statistically significant correlations (Table 2).