Clinical Medicine Insights: Geriatrics

Background: It is well known that incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) disease increases with age. Endoscopy for the evaluation of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) symptoms in elderly patients frequently provides useful diagnostic information.

Objectives: To ascertain the indications for and describe the outcomes of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in older patients (65+ years) referred to King Fahd Central Hospital (KFCH), Jazan, South West Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional hospital-based study conducted at KFCH. Records of 591 elderly patients were reviewed during the period of 11 years from 1994 to 2005. Indications for and diagnoses from upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were statistically analyzed.

Results: The mean age of patients studied was 73.5 years, with men representing 64.8% (n = 383). The most common indications for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were: UGI bleeding, indicated by hematemesis or melena (139, 23.5%); epigastric pain (67, 11.3%); and acid peptic disease (60, 10.2%). Gastritis was the most common finding of the procedure, with no significant differences between males (20.9%) and females (23.6%). Esophageal varices was the second most common upper GI endoscopy finding among the study participants (102, 17.3).

Conclusions: The most common indications for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were UGI bleeding, epigastric pain and Acid Peptic Disease, Gastritis and esophageal varices were the most common findings of upper GI endoscopies performed in the studied population.