Maryam Shoaran

Diagnostic Endoscopy and Clinical Characteristics of Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Children: a 10-Year Retrospective Study

Background Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy is a tool used frequently in the evaluation of patients presented with hematemesis. Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical presentations and features of UGI bleeding (UGIB) in children. Methods/Patients and Materials A descriptive retrospective analysis was carried out on the medical records of the patients. Children and adolescents aging 0 – 18 years who were presented with UGIB were recruited in the survey over a period of 10 years (2000 to 2010) in Childrens Hospital, Tabriz, Iran. Results There were 447 patients included in this study and they were all evaluated by upper endoscopy. Clinical manifestations included hematemesis (120 cases, 26.85%), melena (60 cases, 13.42%), and hematochezia (11 cases, 2.46%). Age-related analysis showed that erosive esophagities was a more common cause of hematemesis in the younger age group (under 1 year of age) with a prevalence of 37% when compared with elder children and adolescents (40%). Peptic ulcer disease was seen in only 7.4% of infants under the age of one. Overall, Esophagitis and erosive esophagitis was the most common endoscopic finding (179, 40%) . Conclusions There were 80 (17.90%) patients receiving endoscopic hemostatic therapy. In children with UGIB, upper endoscopy is a diagnostic procedure for the categorization of underlying causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in children and various endoscopic lesions may be found in a patient with the impression of UGIB.

Topical tranexamic acid as a novel treatment for bleeding peptic ulcer: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Peptic ulcers are among the most common causes of upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in children. The standard care for GI bleeding is endoscopy for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. We aimed to assess the effect of topical tranexamic acid (TXA) via endoscopic procedures in children with GI bleeding caused by bleeding ulcers. Procedure: In this randomised controlled trial, 120 children were evaluated by diagnostic procedures for GI bleeding, of which 63 (30 girls, 33 boys) aged 1-month to 15 years were recruited. The patients were randomly divided into case and control groups. In the case group, TXA was administered directly under endoscopic therapy. In the control group, epinephrine (1/10,000) was submucosally injected to the four quadrants of ulcer margins as the routine endoscopic therapy. In both groups, the patients received supportive medical therapy with intravenous fluids and proton pump inhibitor drugs. Results: The mean ± standard deviation age of the children was 5 ± 2.03 years. Rebleeding occurred in 15 (11.4%) and 21 (9.8%) patients in the case and control groups, respectively (P = 0.50). The frequency of blood transfusion episodes (P = 0.06) and duration of hospital stay (P = 0.07) were not statistically different between the groups. Conclusion: Using topical TXA via endoscopic procedures may be effective in cases of GI bleedings caused by active bleeding ulcers. In order to establish this therapeutic effect, a large number of clinical studies are needed.