Faculty Collaboration Database

Comparison of endoscopic findings in patients from different ethnic groups undergoing endoscopy for upper gastrointestinal bleed in eastern Nepal. Nepal Med Coll J 2007 Sep;9(3):173-5

Date

12/21/2007

Pubmed ID

18092434

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-38749134529 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   6 Citations

Abstract

Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleed is one of the commonest medical emergencies. Cultural customs and practices may influence the development of disease conditions that may lead to UGI bleed. The purpose of this study was to compare the causes of UGI bleed in different ethnic groups among patients presenting to a large tertiary care hospital with acute UGI bleed. A retrospective study was conducted examining data available in the endoscopy register at the B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) in Nepal for patients presenting with UGI bleed over one calendar year. Study subjects were categorized into one of a few broad categories of ethnic groups: Khas, Newar, SeTaMaGuRaLi, Maithali and others. Demographic information and endoscopic diagnoses were abstracted. The relative frequencies of different causes of UGI bleed were compared across the ethnic groups using the chi2 test. One hundred and eighty-nine patients underwent endoscopy for UGI bleed in the time period studied. The mean age of the study cohort was 49.6 years and consisted of 71.0% males and 29.0% females. Overall the commonest cause of upper GI bleed was gastric ulcer. Esophageal varices was the commonest cause in the SeTaMaGuRaLi group, accounting for 33.3%. The relative frequency of esophageal varices as the cause of upper GI bleed was statistically significantly different among the various ethnic groups, with the SeTaMaGuRaLi group having the highest relative frequency (p-value 0.02). Physicians taking care of patients with upper GI bleed in Nepal should be aware of the high relative frequency of esophageal varices as a cause of upper GI bleed, and especially so among certain ethnic groups.

Author List

Bhattarai J, Acharya P, Barun B, Pokharel S, Uprety N, Shrestha NK

Author

Pramod Acharya MBBS Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Culture
Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal
Esophageal and Gastric Varices
Female
Gastritis
Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nepal
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Stomach Ulcer