Roesch-Dietlen F, García-Rodríguez V, Rueda-Torre G, Guzmán-Terrones MT, Palmeros-Sarmiento JL, Morfín-Ríos L, Abascal-Zamora R, López-Canseco R, Pérez-Morales A

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 3-7
PDF size: 61.07 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: First, to determine the frequency of bleeding in the upper digestive system of the population seeking attention at medical institutions of the health sector in the City of Veracruz, Mexico within the last 5 years, and second to determine the location and origins of these hemorrhages. Material and methods: The methodology consisted of analysis of 6,784 clinical records obtained from patients previously treated with endoscopic procedures of the upper digestive tract. These patients were seen at several hospitals of the health sector in the City of Veracruz, such as the National Medical Center of the Mexican Social Security Institute, the General Hospital of the Mexican Health Care Office, the General Hospital of the Social Security and Services Institute for State Workers and the Regional Military Hospital. The study was performed from January 1996 to December 2000. Results: A total of 3,966 cases of patients of upper digestive tract bleeding were diagnosed that corresponded to 58.46% above all studies performed. As a consequence, the annual average frequency rate was 791 cases, which means that 105 of 100,000 inhabitants suffer from this disease. There was no significant difference between males and females (49.87 vs 50.13%, respectively). Furthermore, average age of cases was 52 years, and 62.55% of all patients were between the fifth and eighth decades of life. The most frequent site of bleeding was the esophagus (45.16%), the second most frequent, the stomach (42.46%) and the last, the duodenum (10.44%). The etiology was diverse: the first cause was variceal rupture in the esophagus in 33.85%; the second was acute erosive gastritis in 31.12%, and the third cause was esophagitis in 9.33%, duodenal ulcer in 9.30%, gastric ulcer in 7.68%, and the remainder of causes, 6.77%. In 1.94%, the cause of the bleeding was not determined. Discussion: The upper gastrointestinal tract hemorrhage was the most frequent diagnosis in all endoscopic studies done during the 5-year period (58.46%). The most common cause was rupture of esophageal varices (33.85%), the second cause was acute erosive gastritis (31.12%), and at a descending rate, the remainder of the causes. These results are compared with the national and world literature and are quite similar to the clinical findings of our study.