Pranaya Kumar Panigrahi1, Sudhansu Sekhar Mohanty2
CONTEXT
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is one of the commonest gastrointestinal emergencies encountered by clinicians. Peptic ulcers are the most common cause of UGIB. Endoscopy has become the preferred method for diagnosis in patients with acute UGIB. This study is done in a diagnostic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) setup of a tertiary care hospital to ascertain the causes of UGIB prevalent in this part of our country which might differ from other studies.
AIM
To ascertain prevalent causes of UGIB in patients of this part of India admitted to a Govt. Tertiary Hospital with a provisional diagnosis of UGIB.
METHOD
One hundred consecutive patients with UGIB were subjected to UGIE to find out the aetiology. The clinical profile and endoscopic findings were analysed and compared with the data on UGIB from other studies.
RESULTS
The mean age of patients was 47.03 years with male: female ratio of 2.33:1. 58% of patients were first time bleeders. Majority of patients presented with melaena. Visualisation of active bleeding achieved to 85.7% when endoscopy was done within first 24 hrs. The commonest cause of UGIB was duodenal ulcer (DU) which accounted for 41% cases. Gastric ulcer was responsible in 13% of cases. Portal hypertension was responsible for bleed in only 13%. Neoplasms accounted for 25% of cases. Other less common causes were erosive gastritis (3%), gastric polyp (3%), Mallory-Weiss tear (1%), and Dieulafoy’s lesion (1%). Among bleeding peptic ulcers, 27.8% of cases were classified as Forrest IIa and 20.4% in Forrest IIb & IIc each. Acid peptic disease was past history elicited in majority (33%) followed by NSAID (26%) and alcohol (26%).
CONCLUSION
The present study has diagnosed various causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in this part of country. The incidence of gastric carcinoma as a cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding is significantly high compared to those in other studies. UGI endoscopy should be done in every case of upper gastrointestinal bleeding as early as possible to facilitate accurate diagnosis and plan out an appropriate therapeutic measure.
