ENDOSCOPIC EVALUATION OF DYSPEPSIA

Background Dyspepsia, a classic symptom of Peptic Ulcer Disease (PUDs) is a common clinical problem, However, only 15-25% of patients are found to have a gastric or duodenal ulcer. Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) is a necessary investigation of dyspepsia to exclude mucosal disease. Objectives To determine the specific causes of dyspepsia amid hundreds of patients who attended a major tertiary GIT center in Erbil city over the last two decades, to preclude the serious medical illness through endoscopic visualization, as well as determine if any endoscopic medical intervention would rather relieve dyspepsia most patients and Methods A retrospective study was done on endoscopic records of patients from 2004 to 2023. The records review of 2106 patients who underwent OGD for evaluation of dyspeptic symptoms. The OGDs were done in Rizgary Teaching Hospital at the endoscopy Module. The Device model was an Olympus OTV-F2 connected to a TV monitor. Results The commonest OGD findings were duodenal ulcer (32.5%), atrophic gastritis (29.1%), and normal OGD (22.7%). Normal OGD was most common amid the age group 30-39 years, while duodenal ulcer and atrophic gastritis were both most common among the 15-29 age groups. Conclusion The most common OGD findings in this study were duodenal ulcers and atrophic gastritis. Both were found mostly among younger patients. Gastric cancer was the predominant significant lesion seen among various age groups including younger age groups, no medical intervention through OGD was useful to relieve dyspepsia in the majority of participants. We recommend active screening programs for gastric cancer, especially among middle-aged patients together with better social awareness against unhealthy lifestyles.