Abstract:
This paper presents a retrospective study to evaluate the causes of bleeding in 552 patients undergoing ripper GI endoscopy for haemetemesis/ melaena. The study was conducted between 1992 and 2000 in the Department of Gastroenterology at DIMS. The majority of patients were inpatients, while some were referred from other` departments within PIMS and some from other hospitals. Oesophageal varices accounted for the majority of the lesions causing upper GI bleeding (44%). Peptic ulcer disease was the second commonest accounting for 19.7% of cases. Oesophageal lesions like oesophagitis and oesophageal ulcers were seen in 6.6%. Tumours of the upper GI tract were found in 1.1% and gastric erosions in 4.9%. Fundal varices were seen in 3.8%. Normal upper GI examination on endoscopy accounted for 10.9% and a variety of other lesions in the remaining 10%. The age variation showed a maximum number of patients falling in the age group 50-59 years (22.6%) followed closely by patients between the ages of 60-69 years (19.9%). A significant number of patients had a combination of lesions on endoscopy. The commonest associated lesions were oesophagitis, antral gastritis, portal hypertensive gastropathy, gastric erosions and duodenitis. These were present in combination with other lesions like varices, ulcers and MalloryWeiss tears, and were not considered to be the primary cause of the upper GI bleed. It was concluded that the causes of upper GI bleeding, in our series of 552 patients are similar to those described in local literature but different from the causes described in Western literature.
Page(s):
845-848
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Journal of Pakistan Dental Association, Volume: 15, Issue: 1, Year: 2004