ACUTE UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING: RETROSPECTIVE EVALUATION OF ENDOSCOPIC RECORDS

Objective: Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a common and potentially life-threatening medical emergency. Endoscopy is very important for diagnosis and therapy of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This study was performed to evaluate etiology and therapeutic outcome of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Materials and Methods: A total of 570 gastroscopies were performed for upper gastrointestinal bleeding between January 1999-December 2002 in our hospital. Results: Five hundred seventy patients (418 men and 152 women, mean age 49 years, range 14-92 years) were evaluated. Etiology of bleeding was detected in 80.3 percent of the cases. The most frequent cause of bleeding was peptic ulcer (65.2%) and the localisation was duodenum (80.7%), variceal bleeding was detected in 31 cases (5.4 %). Therapeutic modality for variceal bleeding was banding which was performed in the same or subsequent sessions in 15 cases, for peptic ulcer sclerotherapy was performed in 5 cases. Forty-five patients (%7.8) were evaluated by general surgery department for serious bleeding and hemodynamic instability and 10 of these patients were operated. There was no complication related to the endoscopic diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Conclusion: Endoscopy has a crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopy is a method which is nearly free of complication and can save the patient from surgery.