Upper gastrointestinal bleeding among Saudis: Etiology and prevalence the Riyadh Central Hospital experience.

Fiberoptic esophagastroduodenoscopic examination of 747 Saudi patients who presented with acute upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleeding between January 184G to December 1986G showed that ruptured esophageal varices, erosive gastritis, duodenitis and peptic ulcer disease were the most common findings. There were 515 males and 232 females (M:F 2.2:1). Multiple lesions were detected in 83% of patients, emphasizing the need to anticipate more than one lesion at endoscopy in a patient with UGI bleeding. Sixty-seven patients (8.9%) gave a history of drug ingestion prior to the episode of bleeding; gastric and duodenal erosions were the most common lesions in these patients. No source of bleeding was apparent in 26 (3.5%) patients at the time of endoscopy. Endoscopy rather than barium studies has become established as the standard investigation in our patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.