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CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING TO ONDOKUZ MAYIS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

  • Levent Altıntop
  • Ahmet Bektaş
  • Cemil Narğis
  • Hakan Güven
  • Zahide Doğanay
  • Dursun Aygün
  • Tülay Bakır

Eurasian J Emerg Med 2003;2(1):21-22

Gastrointestinal system bleeding may result from many causes, most commonly from peptic ulcer, ulcerogenic drugs (aspirin, NSAIDs, and alcohol). The morbidity and mortality may be high in patients with GI bleeds.

Between January and April of 2002,137 patients with GI bleeding presented to our tertiary university emergency department and had the following complaints: melena in 54 (39%), hematemesis in 28 (20%), and both melena and hematochezia in 55 (41%). The ulcers were felt to be caused by medications in 83 (61%), while 79 (58%) patients reported other diseases associated with GI bleeding (peptic ulcer, esophageal varices, and cirrhosis). Eighty-nine patients (65%) had a first-time bleed, while this was a repeat GI bleed in 48 patients (35%) Endoscopic results (Forrest classification) in these patients were as follows: F 1A in 3 (3%), F 1B in 6 (6%), F 2A in 29 (28%), F 2B in 15 (14%), F 2C in 3 (3%), F 3 in 41 (39%), esophagitis in 2 (2%), cancer in 4 (4%), and normal findings in 2 (2%). Nine of the 137 patients died in the emergency department.

Keywords: GI bleeding, Forrest Classification, NSAID