Bilal Arshed Butt, Tahira Murtaza Cheema, Muhammad Shehzad Manzoor, Arshad Rabbani, Muhammad Khurram, Asia Jamshed, Muhammad Shoaib Shafi.
Endoscopic evaluation of patients with upper GI bleed in holy month of Ramadan.
J Rawal Med Coll Jan ;8(2):65-8.

Background: To study etiology of upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleed with flexible upper GI endoscopy in month of Ramadan 2004 and compare with normal prevalent pattern. Methods: A total number of 105 Upper GI endoscopic procedures were performed in the month of Ramadan 2004 in the Department of Medicine at DHQ Teaching Hospital, Rawalpindi, out of which 54 patients were endoscoped due to upper GI bleed. Records of these patients that included patients characteristics, endoscopic diagnosis etc was analyzed using statistical program, SPSS version 11 and also compared with the pattern prevailing during the rest of the year. Results: Out of 54 patients studied in Ramadan, 70% were male (n = 38) and 30% were females (n = 16). Only one patient (2%) was aged less than 15 years, 6 (11%) were between 15 and 35 years, 21 (39`%) were between 36 and 50 years, while 26 (48%) were over 51 years of age. Esophageal varices were found in 29 (54%)), duodenal ulcer in 7 (12%) and esophago/gastro/duodenitis in 6 (11%) patients. Gastric erosions were diagnosed in 3 (5.5%), esophageal tear in 2 (4%), peptic ulcer in 2 (4%) and gastric polyp in 2 (4%) cases. Three patients (5.5%) had normal upper GI endoscopy. Conclusions: Esophageal varices are the major contributing cause of upper GI bleed and more so in the month of Ramadan. Ratio of duodenal ulcer also increases in Ramadan, especially after mid Ramadan, compared to the normal prevalent pattern of upper GI bleed during the remainder of the year.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com