Incidence of Esophageal Varices in Patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Objective: To determine the frequency of esophageal varices as a cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Methodology: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in the emergency room and the department of medicine Khost Provincial Hospital Khost -Afghanistan. Duration of data collection was six months, starting from January 5, 2021 to June 4, 2021. The study included one hundred and six patients suffered from upper GI bleeding. After initial history and clinical examination, upper GI endoscopy was performed to evaluate the cause of bleeding and all the relevant data was entered in the specific proforma designed by researchers.

Results: One hundred and six patients, 60 (56.6%) male and 46 (43.4%)females, of upper GI hemorrhage were included in the study. Mean age was 45.78 years (SD ±14.86) with age range of 21- 85years. Twenty patients (18.86%) had esophageal varices while 28 (26.41%) patients had duodenal ulcer, 31 (29.2%) had gastric ulcer, 14 (13.2%) had Gastric carcinoma,9 (8.49) patients had gastro-duodenal erosions, three patients (2.83%)had Mallory Weiss tear and one patient (0.94) had esophageal growth.

Conclusion: In this area (Khost – Afghanistan) where this study was conducted, esophageal varices are the second most common cause of upper GI bleeding.