ABSTRACT

Upper gastrointestinal bleed is defined as bleeding proximal to the ligament of Treitz. The aim of this study was to know the cause of upper GI bleed, prognosis of the patients and role of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) in the management of upper gastrointestinal bleed (UGIB). A study of 140 cases was carried out in the Shree Krishna Hospital and Pramukh Swami Medical College, Karamsad in India between January 2014 and June 2015. All patients were selected by the detailed history and physical examination. Patients with signs and symptoms suggestive of upper GI bleeding such as hematemesis, melena, blood in the nasogastric tubes, and profuse hematochezia were included in the study. Endoscopy was performed in all patients. Rockall scoring system was used to predict the mortality in patients with upper GI bleeding. We use descriptive statistics for analysis. It was found that upper GI bleed was more common in males than females, and was more prevalent in elderly individuals. The most common symptom was found to be hematemesis followed by abdominal pain. The most common cause was portal hypertension, which has a direct correlation with alcohol addiction. UGIE has both diagnostic as well as therapeutic role in UGIB. This study showed that upper GI bleeding was more common in male patients with the most common cause being portal hypertension. We observed that Mallory-Weiss tear had a particular association with NSAIDs. In our study, the Rockall scoring system was seen to predict the mortality in patients with upper GI bleeding. Endoscopy was both diagnostic and therapeutic and endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL/Glue) was performed for esophageal and/fundic varices and adrenaline injection for peptic ulcer bleeding and Mallory-Weiss tear.

KEY WORDS: Upper GI bleeding; Endoscopy; Endoscopic variceal ligation; Mallory-Weiss tear