pper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Prospective Epidemiological Study about 72 Cases and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Introduction: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a frequent cause of medical care. They constitute medical and surgical emergencies that quickly involve the patient’s vital prognosis. The main objective of this work is to study the epidemiological profile of UGIB. Materials and Methods: Our work is a descriptive prospective study including all patients admitted for upper gastrointestinal bleeding from January to December 2020. All patients received specific emergency care as well as upper endoscopy. Results: 72 patients with UGIB were included, 31 men (43.1%) and 41 women (56.9%). The average age is 56.5 ± 6.8 years. UGIB was manifested as isolated melena (40.3%), hematemesis associated with melena (25%). On admission, hemoglobinemia was below 7 g/dl in 51.4% of cases. The history of the patients was dominated by portal hypertension (PHT) (13.7%), taking antiplatelet agents (13.7%) and anticoagulants (11%). The average time for completion of the upper endoscopy is 36.97h ± 8.9. The main diagnoses were ulcer bleeding (34.7%), PHT related bleeding (23.67%), and gastritis (16.6%). Bleeding recurrence and mortality were estimated at 25% and 5.6% of cases respectively. Conclusion: The majority of upper gastrointestinal bleeding occurred in patients over 60 years old. The most common etiologies are ulcer disease and bleeding related to portal hypertension. Gastroscopy is the key examination and constitutes the main stage for diagnostic, etiological, prognostic and therapeutic purposes.