Patterns of upper gastrointestinal diseases based on endoscopy in the period 1998-2001

Upper gastrointestinal complaints are common in Kenya. Though these have remained unchanged over the last 20 years, the pattern of upper gastrointestinal disease on endoscopic examination seems to be changing. There appears to be progressive increase in oesophagitis and cancer of the stomach. Peptic ulcer disease has remained stable while Cancer of the oesophagus is still common. The paper intends to report on endoscopic findings at the Centre for Clinical Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) over the period October 1998 and May 2001. The sources of information are records made at the time of endoscopy and histology reports on biopsies taken. Seven hundred and sixty eight patients were endoscoped. The male to female ratio was 1.7:1 with mean age +/-SD of 40.8 +/-20.1 years and age range was 3 to 96 years. Majority of the patients had abnormal findings with gastritis being the most common ( 25.8%). It is concluded that gastritis is an important cause of morbidity in Kenya. Oesophagitis, mainly due to gastroesophageal reflux disease, seems to be on the increase. Gastric cancer is not as rare as previously thought and peptic ulcer disease is still common.