Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Aim: To investigate upper GI bleeding as a particular complication in chronic kidney disease patients. Material and methhod: 30 chronic kidney disease patients admitted to the Nephrology Department for upper gastrointestinal bleeding over a period of 5 years. Results: 16 patients were undergoing hemodialysis (53.3%) and 14 patients were not in a hemodialysis program. There were no patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis. Very high comorbidity rate for all patients, most important being cardiovascular diseases. Only 10% of patients had oral anticoagulant treatment prior to GI bleeding. Conservative treatment was successful for all patients; no endoscopic or surgical haemostasis was needed. Conclusion: Although chronic disease kidney patients have a high risk of upper GI bleeding compared to the general population, the conservative treatment applied has a very high rate of success in stopping the bleeding without the need for endoscopic or surgical haemostasis treatment.