ABSTRACT
Background: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding [UGIB] is an important complication of low-dose aspirin. There are few and conflicting results about the etiology of UGIB in relation to low-dose aspirin. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy of patients taking low-dose aspirin who developed UGIB.
Materials and methods: The medical records of patients with UGIB who referred to Fatemieh Hospital, Semnan, Iran during 2001-2011 were studied and eligible patients were enrolled to the study. The endoscopic data were extracted and compared between the patients taking low-dose aspirin and who were not taking aspirin [control].
Results: 419 cases were studied. 58 [13.8 Percent] patients consumed low-dose aspirin and 204 [48.7 Percent] patients did not consume aspirin. The average age of the patients who received low-dose aspirin and those in the control groups were 65.9 +/- 5.9 and 50.4 +/- 22.3 years, respectively [p = 0.000]. 46.6 Percent and 32.4 Percent of the patients in low-dose aspirin and control groups were women, respectively, and the remaining patients were men [p > 0.05]. The main endoscopic findings in low-dose aspirin and control groups were erosions of the stomach, duodenum, and esophagus [55.9 Percent and 51.7 Percent] and peptic ulcer [50 Percent and 43.6 Percent], respectively. The other findings such as neoplasia, Mallory Weiss, and hiatal hernia were uncommon [1.7 Percent and 5.9 Percent]. The prevalence of endoscopic findings was not statistically significant between the two groups [p > 0.05].
Conclusion: In this small study, although patients with UGIB and low-dose aspirin consumption had more peptic ulcers and erosions in comparison with the control group, the difference was not significant