Upper Gastro Intestinal Bleed – Causes, Endoscopic Profile and Usefulness of Rockall Score in Determining the Outcome (Mortality and Rebleeding)

Background: Upper Gastrointestinal (UGI) haemorrhage is one of the common emergencies met in clinical practice. The mode of presentation is diverse and depends on the cause and the amount of blood loss. Early upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, defined as within 24 hours of hospital presentation or admission is the cornerstone of management of UGIB. Early endoscopy helps in diagnosis, treatment and risk stratification. Therapeutic endoscopy is considered a safe and effective form of treatment today. Objective: To study endoscopic findings and determining the outcomes (mortality and rebleeding) in patients presenting with Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed (UGIB) and in patients on blood thinners in our institute. Methods and Material: A total of 56 patients who were referred to emergency department of Shree Krishna Hospital Gokalnagar in the district of Anand of state of Gujarat which is a part of western India were properly managed and were subjected to therapeutic and diagnostic endoscopy were included in this prospective cross -sectional study and were studied for 6 months. Results: In the studied population among 56 patients, the most common cause of UGIB was variceal bleed 45 (80%); than that of non-variceal bleed 11(20%). The mean Rockall score was 4.7 which indicated that most patients belong to moderate risk group. Conclusion: Rockall score helped in identifying that most of the patients belonged to moderate and high risk group. The mortality was significantly high in the high risk group compared to the low and moderate risk group in which there were no mortality.