Endoscopic evaluation of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients presenting with hematemesis within 24 hours of admission

Objective: to evaluate with endoscopy the common causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in patients presenting with hematemesis within 24 hours of admission. design: a cross sectional observational study. setting: medical unit iii,lumhs jamshoro. duration: six months from 1stjul,2014 - 31stdec,2014. methods: one hundred cases of hematemesis were included in the study. patients who refused endoscopy and those on nsaids,anticoagulants & steroids were excluded from study. upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed within 24 hours of admission. results: out of 100 patients selected,51 (51%) were males and 49 (49%) females. majority of patients were between 30-60 years with mean age of 43.97 years ±sd 7.8. variceal bleed was the most common cause n=54 (54%) followed by peptic ulcer disease (pud) n=20 (20%). esophagitis was noted in ten (10%) patients,gastric erosions in nine (9%),tumors of upper gastrointestinal tract in six (6%) and mallory-weiss tear was responsible in only one (1%) cases. conclusion: variceal bleeding secondary to portal hypertension is the most frequent cause of bleeding in upper gastrointestinal tract. increased prevalence of hepatitis b virus (hbv) and hepatitis c virus (hcv) in this part of the world has resulted in increased incidence of liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension highlighting the importance of prevention of hbv and hcv. © 2016,liaquat university of medical and health sciences. all rights reserved.