ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: The association between clinical characteristics and endoscopic profile of acute non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB) patients with red blood cell (RBC) transfusion has not been well explored in Malaysia. Therefore, a retrospective study was performed using a five-years database to analyse the factors clinically and endoscopically for RBC transfusion. Methods: All adult NVUGIB patients who received RBC transfusion within the study period of 2012-2017 in Putrajaya Hospital were enrolled. There were 180 patients selected by systematic random sampling. Our composed clinical data include demography, risk factor, aetiology, presenting symptoms, Glasgow-Blatchford Score (GBS), endoscopic findings according to Forrest Classification and number unit of RBC transfusion. These data were analysed using Mann-Whitney U-Test, Pearson Correlation and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). Results: Total 180 patients, the mean age was 63.9 (SD 11.6). Their presenting symptoms were melaena (62.8%), haematemesis (38.3%), and haematochezia (10.6%), with the cause of bleeding was gastric erosion (65.6%), duodenitis/duodenal ulcer (26.1%), and oesophagitis (7.8%). The mean GBS score was 10.7, and the number of RBC transfusion unit was 2.8. The Forrest Classification showed Forrest III (36.1%), Forrest IIc (22.8%), Forrest IIb and Ib (14.4%) respectively. Pearson’s Correlation showed a strong correlation between GBS and unit of RBC transfusion (r = 0.922, p-value <0.001). MLR analysis revealed haematochezia (p = 0.022) and higher GBS (p <0.001) were independent factors associated with a higher number of RBC transfusion unit. Conclusion: Haematochezia and higher GBS score were two predictive factors for a higher RBC transfusion unit in NVUGIB patients.