AETIOLOGY OF UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL HAEMORRHAGEAN ENDOSCOPIC STUDY

610 patients of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage were endoscoped over a period of eleven years from July 1985 to June 1996. Average age of the patients was 39.2 years. 82.6% were males and 17.4% were females. Duodenal ulcer (31.5%), erosive mucosal disease (30.8%), oesophageal varices (31.5%) and gastric ulcer (6.2%) were the major causes. Other causes included Mallory Weiss syndrome (10 patients), gastric polyp (3 patients), stomal ulcer (5 patients) and self-induced bleeding (3 patients). Multiple lesions responsible for bleeding were detectable in 6.6% of patients. Endoscopy was non-contributory in 50 (11.2%) patients. Haemorrhage was the first presentation in 8.5% patients of duodenal ulcer. A known ulcerogenic agent in 21% of duodenal ulcer cases precipitated the bleeding. 77.4% of duodenal ulcer patients responded to conservative management. Erosive gastritis (57.5%) was the commonest finding in the erosive mucosal group. Alcohol and analgesics were the major precipitating factors in these patients. Majority of oesophageal varices were treated by sclerotherapy. Mortality (20%) were highest in the oesophageal varices group.