Abstract

SAMANIEGO, Castor; CASCO, Eva T  and  CRISTALDO, Carlos M.. Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding. The Baptist Medical Center’s experience. An. Fac. Cienc. Méd. (Asunción) [online]. 2005, vol.38, n.4, pp.46-50. ISSN 1816-8949.

Background: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is one of the most frequent medical emergencies. The standard diagnostic method is upper GI endoscopy, and treatment of choice combines medical and endoscopic treatment. Patients and methods: A descriptive, retrospective study was done in consecutive cases of upper GI bleeding seen at the Baptist Medical Center between June 2002 and December 2004. Parameters studied were: demographic characteristics, clinical setting, endoscopic findings, treatment and results. Results: The series includes 55 cases: 30 men and 25 women, with and average age of 59 years; 21 patients were taking NSAIDs. Chief complaints were: melena in 27 cases, hematemesis in 6, hematemesis and melena in 17, fainting in 3 and rectal bleeding in 2. The causes of bleeding were: peptic ulcer in 32 cases, gastritis in 19, erosive esophagitis in 2 and Mallory-Weiss syndrome in 2. No patient relapsed after medical or endoscopic treatment. Two patients had emergency surgery. There were no deaths. Conclusion: Upper GI bleeding is more common in men, and hematemesis and melena are the most frequent chief complaints. Peptic ulcer is the most frequent cause of bleeding and non-surgical management gives satisfactory results.

Keywords : upper GI bleeding; upper GI endoscopy.

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