Aims: Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding is the commonest emergency managed by gastroenterologist. Our aim was to assess the frequency of erosive gastropathy as a cause of upper GI bleeding as well as its relation to age. gender and known risk factors.
Material and methods: We conducted retrospective observational analysis of emergency endoscopy reports from the files of Emergency Department of Clinic of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Clinical Center of Serbia, during the period from 2000-2005. Data consisted of patients' demographics, endoscopic findings and potential risk factors.
Results: During the period 2000-2005. Three thousand-nine hundred and fifty four emergency tipper endoscopies were performed for acute bleeding. In one quarter of cases acute gastric erosions were the actual cause of bleeding. One half of them were associated with excessive consumption of salicilates and NSAIDs. In most of the examined cases bleeding stopped spontaneously, while in 7.6%) of the cases required endoscopic intervention.
Conclusion: Erosive gastropathy represents significant cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding count up to one quarter of all cases required emergency endoscopy during the 5-year period. Consumption of NSAIDs and salicilates was associated with erosive gastropathy in almost one half of cases (46%) leading us with a conclusion that we must explore other causes of erosive gastropathy more thoroughly.