Chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease predict higher risk of mortality in patients with primary upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

BACKGROUND: The outcome of gastrointestinal bleeding in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients is difficult to discern from the literature. Many publications are small, single-center series or are from an era prior to advanced interventional endoscopy, widespread use of proton pump inhibitors or treatment for Helicobacter pylori infections. In this study, we quantify the role of CKD and ESRD as independent predictors of mortality in patients admitted to the hospital with a principal diagnosis of primary upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB).
METHODS: We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample that contains data on approximately 8 million admissions in 1,000 hospitals chosen to approximate a 20% stratified sample of all US facilities. Patients discharged with the principal diagnosis of primary UGIB, CKD or ESRD were identified through the ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases, clinical modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. The outcome variables included frequency and in-hospital mortality of UGIB in CKD and ESRD patients as compared to non-CKD patients and were analyzed using logistic regression modeling.
RESULTS: In 2007, out of a total of 398,213 admissions with a diagnosis of primary UGIB, 35,985 were in CKD, 14,983 in ESRD, and 347,245 in non-renal disease groups. The OR for primary UGIB hospitalization in CKD and ESRD was 1.30 (95% CI 1.17-1.46) and 1.84 (95% CI 1.61-2.09), respectively. The corresponding all-cause mortality OR was 1.47 (95% CI 1.21-1.78) and 3.02 (95% CI 2.23-4.1), respectively.
CONCLUSION: Patients with CKD or ESRD admitted with primary UGIB have up to three times higher risk of all-cause in-hospital mortality, warranting heightened vigilance by their clinicians.