Factors that influence the short term outcome of upper gastrointestinal bleeding at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Between April 1990 to January 1991, a prospective study of 97 consecutive patients admitted to the medical wards of Kenyatta National Hospital with upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage was done. All the patients studied under went upper gastrointestinal endoscopy within 24 hours of presentation and a positive endoscopic diagnosis was possible in 90 (93%) of the patients studied. The leading causes of bleeding were oesophageal varices in 34 (35%) patients, duodenal ulceration in 17 (17.5%) patients, and superficial inflammatory lesions in 17 (17.5%) patients. 17 (17.5%) patients had multiple lesions with superficial inflammation and oesophageal varices as the commonest combination. In 86 (88%) patients, bleeding settled on simple conservative measures which included intravenous fluids, blood transfusion and antacids. Further haemorrhage was observed in 11 (11.3%) patients. Tachycardia (> 100/minute), hypotension (systolic BP < 100mm Hg) and low haemoglobin (< 8 g/dl) at admission were all correlated with a poor outcome. Variceal bleeding had the worst prognosis and the overall mortality rate was 5%.