Change in the management of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding in our gastroenterological department – comparison of data collected between 1998 and 2003

Introduction: Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a potentially life threatening disease. Optimal therapy require emergency endoscopic procedures and intensive therapy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the difference in the main demographic data, the occurance and cause of the bleeding sources, the type of endotherapy and the rebleeding rate of acute upper GI bleeding patients, as we compared our endoscopic database between the year of 1998 and 2003. Patients were treated in our the gastroenterological department and gastrointestinal subintensive care unit. Results: In 1998 we treated 332 pts vs. 283 pts in 20…