Clinic-endoscopic characterization of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding in the General Hospital Pedro Betancourt, Jovellanos

Abstract

Introduction: the upper gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the most common emergencies treated at the emergency services. Its average mortality rate reaches 10%. The most common etiology is still the peptic ulcer, and it is more frequent in men and elder people.
Objective: to characterize, clinically and endoscopically, the patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding attended at the Department of Gastroenterology of the General Hospital Pedro Betancourt in the period from January 2012 to January 2013.
Methods: it was carried out a descriptive- prospective study, taking into account clinical and endoscopic variables like age, gender, clinical presentation, endoscopic findings, kind of lesion and classification of the ulcer hemorrhage complication. The variables were represented in charts and pictures per absolute and relative frequencies.
Results: a sample of 40 patients were enrolled with an average age of 57,3 +/-13,5 years. The predominant gender was the male one with 72,5 %. The most common clinical presentation was the melena (65%). The main endoscopic finding was the duodenal ulcer (45%) and the most frequent ulcer hemorrhagic complication was the recent bleeding.
Conclusion: the upper gastrointestinal bleeding still remains as an urgency more frequently in male patients older than 60 years. The gastroduodenal ulcer with recent bled stigmas was the most common endoscopic finding.