Non variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding during covid 19 outbreak. incidence and clinical characteristics

ABSTRACT

Aims During the COVID 19 pandemic, healthcare was predominantly for the treatment of COVID patients. This raisedconcerns about the impact on health care for unrelated illnesses.The aims of this study was to determine if COVID19 hasproduced changes in the incidence and clinical characteristics of non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGB)compared to a period of time prior to the pandemic. Methods Upper gastrointestinal endoscopies (UGE) performed during the COVID period and those performed in the sameequivalent period in the previous year were selected from the hospital database of the endoscopy unit. NVUGB was definedhaemorrhage originating proximal to the ligament of Treitz with the presence of melena, hematochezia or rectal bleeding with a potentially bleeding lesion in the endoscopy or active bleeding in the arteriography and/or CT angiography. Clinicaland analytical characteristics were compared with the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. A p value <0.05 wasconsidered significant. Results 32 patients were identified (9 during the Covid19 period). The characteristics of the patients and the comparisonbetween the periods are summarized in Table 1. No significant differences were found between the variables compared. Conclusions The incidence of NVUGB was lower in the Covid19 period compared to the non-Covid19 period. However, no significantdifferences were found in the variables analyzed.