Causes of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding on Endoscopy in Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: There are multiple causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding including portal hypertension, peptic ulcers, Mallory-Weiss tear, vascular anomalies, gastric neoplasms, erosive gastritis and erosive esophagitis. Objectives: To study the common causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding on endoscopy in patients presenting in Tertiary Care Hospital. Study Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Settings: Department of Medicine, Allied Hospital, Faisalabad Pakistan. Duration: 4^th April 2018 to 3^rd October 2018. Methodology: Patients with hematemesis and/ or melena of any age or gender, with single or multiple episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding were included. Enrolled patients were advised to stay NPO for 6 hours and then were brought to endoscopy room of Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. After sterilization endoscope was introduced via oral cavity of the patient and the cause of bleed was diagnosed. All the data was entered in the study proforma. Results: Total 352 patients were enrolled and their mean age was 43.76±13.93 years. Majority of the patients i.e. 204 (57.95%) were between 20 to 45 years of age. Out of 352 patients, 239 (67.90%) were males and 113 (32.10%) were females. The common causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding were found to be variceal bleeding in 183 (51.99%), peptic ulcer in 84 (23.86%), Mallory-Weiss tear in 41 (11.65%), vascular anomalies in 11 (3.13%) and gastro-duodenal erosions in 33 (9.38%) patients. Conclusion: This study concluded that variceal cause is the most common cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding followed by peptic ulcer and Mallory-Weiss tear.