Diagnostic Endoscopy and Clinical Characteristics of Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Children: a 10-Year Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy is a tool used frequently in the evaluation of patients presented with hematemesis. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical presentations and features of UGI bleeding (UGIB) in children. METHODS/PATIENTS AND MATERIALS A descriptive retrospective analysis was carried out on the medical records of the patients. Children and adolescents aging 0 - 18 years who were presented with UGIB were recruited in the survey over a period of 10 years (2000 to 2010) in Children's Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. RESULTS There were 447 patients included in this study and they were all evaluated by upper endoscopy. Clinical manifestations included hematemesis (120 cases, 26.85%), melena (60 cases, 13.42%), and hematochezia (11 cases, 2.46%). Age-related analysis showed that erosive esophagities was a more common cause of hematemesis in the younger age group (under 1 year of age) with a prevalence of 37% when compared with elder children and adolescents (40%). Peptic ulcer disease was seen in only 7.4% of infants under the age of one. Overall, Esophagitis and erosive esophagitis was the most common endoscopic finding (179, 40%) . CONCLUSIONS There were 80 (17.90%) patients receiving endoscopic hemostatic therapy. In children with UGIB, upper endoscopy is a diagnostic procedure for the categorization of underlying causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in children and various endoscopic lesions may be found in a patient with the impression of UGIB.