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

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.