Clinical Profile and Endoscopic Findings in Patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a common acute medical emergency. Endoscopyis the gold standard diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the management of upper gastrointestinalbleed. This study was undertaken to address the clinical profile, endoscopic profile, and outcomes inpatients with upper gastrointestinal bleed. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital inGandaki Province, Nepal from January 2018 to December 2019 after obtaining ethical clearancefrom Institutional Review Committee (MEMG/IRC/291/GA) and informed consent fromthe patient or patient relatives. The sample size was calculated. Six hundred and sixty patientswith upper gastrointestinal bleed were included in the study. Data entry was done in StatisticalPackages for the Social Sciences version 20. Results: Peptic ulcers and ruptured oesophageal varices are the common aetiologies of uppergastrointestinal bleed. Inpatient mortality was seen in 98 (14.8 %) patients. Upper gastrointestinalbleed of variceal etiology presents with a higher Rockall score and has more chances of rebleedingand has higher mortality than those with non-variceal aetiologies. Bad prognostic factors wererebleeding, variceal etiology, and comorbidities including cirrhotic and Rockall score > 6. Conclusions: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a common acute medical emergency. Early uppergastrointestinal endoscopy preferably within 24 hours is recommended for diagnosis, timelyintervention, and management of the patients with an upper gastrointestinal bleed that helps inreducing morbidity and mortality.