Trends for Admission and Mortality in Peptic Ulcers at a Tertiary Referral Hospital During the 2017-2021 Period.

Background: The incidence of peptic ulcers has decreased during the last decades; the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced the peptic ulcer hospitalizations. The study aimed to assess the admissions and mortality for complicated and uncomplicated peptic ulcers and the influence of the pandemic period. Material and Methods: We performed an observational study at a tertiary academic center, including all patients admitted for peptic ulcers between 2017-2021. We evaluated the admissions for complicated and uncomplicated ulcers and risk factors for mortality. Results: 1416 peptic ulcers were admitted, with an equal proportion of gastric and duodenal ulcers; most patients were admitted for bleeding (66.7%), and perforation (17.3%). We noted a decreasing trend for peptic bleeding ulcer (PUB) and uncomplicated ulcer admissions during 2020-2021, while for perforation no significant variation was recorded; a decreasing mortality in PUB was noted from 2017 to 2020. Admissions for bleeding peptic ulcer have decreased by 36.6% during the pandemic period; the mortality rate was similar. Admissions for perforated peptic ulcer have decreased by 14.4%, with a higher mortality rate during the pandemic period (16.83 versus 6.73%). Conclusion: A decreasing trend for PUB admissions but not for perforated ulcers was noted. Admissions for PUB have decreased by more than 1/3 during the pandemic period, with a similar mortality rate. Admissions for perforated peptic ulcers have decreased by 1/7, with significantly higher mortality rates during the pandemic period.

Impact of peptic ulcer bleeding on the in-hospital outcomes of cirrhotic patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding: an international multicenter study.

OBJECTIVES: Peptic ulcer is the most common source of non-variceal bleeding. However, it remains controversial whether the outcomes of cirrhotic patients with peptic ulcer bleeding differ from those with variceal bleeding. METHODS: Cirrhotic patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (AGIB) who underwent endoscopy and had an identifiable source of bleeding were retrospectively screened from an international multicenter cohort. Logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the impact of peptic ulcer bleeding on in-hospital death and 5-day failure to control bleeding. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed by matching age, gender, Child-Pugh score, and model for end-stage liver disease score between the peptic ulcer bleeding and variceal bleeding groups. RESULTS: Overall, 1535 patients were included, of whom 73 (4.7%) had peptic ulcer bleeding. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that peptic ulcer bleeding was not independently associated with in-hospital death (OR = 2.169, p = 0.126) or 5-day failure to control bleeding (OR = 1.230, p = 0.680). PSM analyses demonstrated that both in-hospital mortality (9.7% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.376) and rate of 5-day failure to control bleeding (6.9% vs. 5.4%, p = 0.787) were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of peptic ulcer bleeding on the in-hospital outcomes of cirrhotic patients is similar to that of variceal bleeding.

In this international multicenter study, we included 1535 patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (AGIB) and divided them into peptic ulcer bleeding and variceal bleeding groups. We found that only a minority of AGIB episodes in cirrhotic patients was attributed to peptic ulcer. Additionally, after adjusting for the severity of liver dysfunction, the in-hospital mortality and the rate of 5-day failure to control bleeding should be similar between cirrhotic patients with peptic ulcer bleeding and those with variceal bleeding.

Ulcer Bleeding in the United States: Epidemiology, Treatment Success, and Resource Utilization.

BACKGROUND AND GOALS: Peptic ulcer disease is the most frequent cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. We sought to establish the epidemiology and hemostasis success rate of the different treatment modalities in this setting. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study using the National Inpatient Sample. Non-elective adult admissions with a principal diagnosis of ulcer bleeding were included. The primary outcome was endoscopic, radiologic and surgical hemostasis success rate. Secondary outcomes were patients' demographics, in-hospital mortality and resource utilization. On subgroup analysis, gastric and duodenal ulcers were studied separately. Confounders were adjusted for using multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 136,425 admissions (55% gastric and 45% duodenal ulcers) were included. The mean patient age was 67 years. The majority of patients were males, Caucasians, of lower income and high comorbidity burden. The endoscopic, radiological and surgical therapy and hemostasis success rates were 33.6, 1.4, 0.1, and 95.1%, 89.1 and 66.7%, respectively. The in-hospital mortality rate was 1.9% overall, but 2.4% after successful and 11.1% after failed endoscopic hemostasis, respectively. Duodenal ulcers were associated with lower adjusted odds of successful endoscopic hemostasis, but higher odds of early and multiple endoscopies, endoscopic therapy, overall and successful radiological therapy, in-hospital mortality, longer length of stay and higher total hospitalization charges and costs. CONCLUSIONS: The ulcer bleeding endoscopic hemostasis success rate is 95.1%. Rescue therapy is associated with lower hemostasis success and more than a ten-fold increase in mortality rate. Duodenal ulcers are associated with worse treatment outcomes and higher resource utilization compared with gastric ulcers.

Over-the-scope clip versus transcatheter arterial embolization for refractory peptic ulcer bleeding-A propensity score matched analysis.

BACKGROUND: Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) or surgery are standard treatment of peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB) refractory to endoscopic hemostasis. Over-the-scope clips (OTSC) have shown superiority to standard endoscopic treatment. OBJECTIVE: To compare OTSC treatment to TAE in refractory peptic ulcer bleeding. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this retrospective, multicenter study, 128 patients treated with OTSC (n = 66) or TAE (n = 62) for refractory PUB between 2009 and 2019 in four academic centers were analyzed. Primary endpoint was clinical success (hemostasis + no rebleeding within 7 days). Secondary endpoints were adverse events, length of ICU stay, and mortality. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics. RESULTS: Patients characteristics were similar in both groups but ulcers in the TAE group were larger, more often located in the duodenal bulb (85.5% vs. 65.2%; p = 0.014), and that the proportion of Forrest Ia bleedings was higher (38.7% vs. 19.7%; p = 0.018). Clinical success was comparable in both groups (74.2% vs. 59.7%; p = 0.092). Stay on the intensive care unit (ICU) was significantly longer in the TAE group (mean 8.0 vs. 4.7 days; p = 0.002). Serious adverse events after re-therapy (12.9% vs. 1.5%; p = 0.042) and in-hospital mortality were significantly higher in the TAE group (9.1 vs. 22.6%, OR 2.92 [95% CI 1.04-8.16]; p = 0.05). After propensity score matching, the differences found regarding ICU stay (4.9± 5.9 and 9.2 ± 11.2; p = 0.009) and in-hospital mortality (5% vs. 22.5%; OR 5.52 [95% CI: 1.11-27.43]; p = 0.048) stayed significant. CONCLUSIONS: OTSC treatment for refractory PUB was superior to TAE in terms of ICU stay and in-hospital mortality.

Oral Proton Pump Inhibitors May Be as Effective as Intravenous in Peptic Ulcer Bleeding: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Current guidelines recommend intravenous (IV) proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy in peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB). We aimed to compare the efficacy of oral and IV administration of PPIs in PUB. METHODS: We performed a systematic search in 4 databases for randomized controlled trials, which compared the outcomes of oral PPI therapy with IV PPI therapy for PUB. The primary outcomes were 30-day recurrent bleeding and 30-day mortality. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for dichotomous outcomes, while weighted mean differences (WMDs) with CI were calculated for continuous outcomes in meta-analysis. The protocol was registered a priori onto PROSPERO (CRD42020155852). RESULTS: A total of 14 randomized controlled trials reported 1,951 peptic ulcer patients, 977 and 974 of which were in the control and intervention groups, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between oral and IV administration regarding 30-day rebleeding rate (OR = 0.96, CI: 0.65-1.44); 30-day mortality (OR = 0.70, CI: 0.35-1.40); length of hospital stay (WMD = -0.25, CI: -0.93 to -0.42); transfusion requirements (WMD = -0.09, CI: -0.07 to 0.24); need for surgery (OR = 0.91, CI: 0.40-2.07); further endoscopic therapy (OR = 1.04, CI: 0.56-1.93); and need for re-endoscopy (OR = 0.81, CI: 0.52-1.28). Heterogeneity was negligible in all analysis, except for the analysis on the length of hospitalization (I2 = 82.3%, P = 0.001). DISCUSSION: Recent evidence suggests that the oral administration of PPI is not inferior to the IV PPI treatment in PUB after endoscopic management, but further studies are warranted.

Study on the preventive effect of intravenous esomeprazole in the management of nonvarices upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

ABSTRACT: This retrospective study investigated the preventive effect of intravenous esomeprazole (IVEO) in the prevention of nonvarices upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NUGIB).This study enrolled 130 patients with NUGIB and all of them underwent successful endoscopic hemostasis, of which 65 cases received routine management and IVEO (Group A) and the other 65 cases received routine management alone (Group B). The primary outcome (recurrent bleeding rate within 72-hour, 7-day, and 30-day), and secondary outcomes ((all-cause mortality, bleeding-related mortality, blood transfused, hospital stay (day), and incidence of adverse events)) were compared between 2 groups.Patients in the group A showed lower recurrent bleeding rate within 72-hour(P < .05), 7-day (P < .05), and 30-day (P < .05), than that of patients in the group B. However, no significant differences were identified in all-cause mortality(P = .26), bleeding-related mortality (P = .57), blood transfused (P = .33), and hospital stay (P = .74) between 2 groups. In addition, both groups had similar safety profile.This study found that routine management and IVEO was superior to the routine management alone for preventing the recurrent bleeding rate after successful endoscopic hemostasis in patients with NUGIB.

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prophylactic Transarterial Embolization for High-Risk Bleeding Peptic Ulcer Disease.

The present systematic review determined the role of transarterial embolization (TAE) as a prophylactic treatment in bleeding peptic ulcers after initial successful endoscopic hemostasis. PubMed and Ovid Medline databases were searched from inception until July 2019 for studies that included patients deemed high-risk based on Forrest Classification, Rockall score ≥ 5, or endoscopic evaluation in addition to those who underwent prophylactic TAE after initial successful endoscopic hemostasis. Meta-analysis was performed to compare patients who underwent endoscopic therapy (ET) and TAE with those who underwent ET alone. The primary outcomes measured included rates of rebleeding, reintervention, and 30-day mortality. Secondary outcome measures evaluated length of hospitalization, technical success rates, and complications associated with TAE. Of 916 publications, 5 were eligible for inclusion; 310 patients with high-risk peptic ulcer bleeding underwent prophylactic TAE, and 255 were compared against a control group of 580 patients that underwent standard treatment with ET alone. Patients who underwent ET with TAE had lower 30-day rebleeding rates (odds ratio [OR], 0.35; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.15-0.85; P = .02; I2 = 50%). The ET with TAE group had a lower 30-day mortality rate (OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.10-0.83; P = .02; I2 = 58%). There was no difference in pooled reintervention rates (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.43-1.08; P = .10; I2 = 0%) and length of hospitalization (mean difference, -0.32; 95% CI, -1.88 to 1.24; P = .69; I2 = 0%). Technical success rate of prophylactic TAE was 90.5% (95% CI, 83.09-97.98; I2 = 75.9%). Pooled proportion of overall complication rate was 0.18% (95% CI, 0.00-1.28; I2 = 0%). Prophylactic TAE has lower rebleeding and mortality with a good success rate and low complications. Prophylactic TAE after primary ET may be recommended for selected patients with high-risk bleeding ulcers; however, further studies should be performed to establish this as a routine tool in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer disease.

The long-term impact of a chronic total occlusion in a non-infarct-related artery on acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction after primary coronary intervention.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the long-term outcome of patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and a chronic total occlusion (CTO) in a non-infarct-related artery (IRA) and the risk factors for mortality. METHODS: The enrolled cohort comprised 323 patients with STEMI and multivessel diseases (MVD) that received a primary percutaneous coronary intervention between January 2008 and November 2013. The patients were divided into two groups: the CTO group (n = 97) and the non-CTO group (n = 236). The long-term major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) experienced by each group were compared. RESULTS: The rates of all-cause mortality and MACCE were significantly higher in the CTO group than they were in the non-CTO group. Cox regression analysis showed that an age ≥ 65 years (OR = 3.94, 95% CI: 1.47-10.56, P = 0.01), a CTO in a non-IRA(OR = 5.09, 95% CI: 1.79 ~ 14.54, P < 0.01), an in-hospital Killip class ≥ 3 (OR = 4.32, 95% CI: 1.71 ~ 10.95, P < 0.01), and the presence of renal insufficiency (OR = 5.32, 95% CI: 1.49 ~ 19.01, P = 0.01), stress ulcer with gastraintestinal bleeding (SUB) (OR = 6.36, 95% CI: (1.45 ~ 28.01, P = 0.01) were significantly related the 10-year mortality of patients with STEMI and MVD; an in-hospital Killip class ≥ 3 (OR = 2.97,95% CI:1.46 ~ 6.03, P < 0.01) and the presence of renal insufficiency (OR = 5.61, 95% CI: 1.19 ~ 26.39, P = 0.03) were significantly related to the 10-year mortality of patients with STEMI and a CTO. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a CTO in a non-IRA, an age ≥ 65 years, an in-hospital Killip class ≥ 3, and the presence of renal insufficiency, and SUB were independent risk predictors for the long-term mortality of patients with STEMI and MVD; an in-hospital Killip class ≥ 3 and renal insufficiency were independent risk predictors for the long-term mortality of patients with STEMI and a CTO.

Management of bleeding peptic duodenal ulcer refractory to endoscopic treatment: surgery or transcatheter arterial embolization as first-line therapy? A retrospective single-center study and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to compare the results of transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) with surgery in terms of efficacy in the context of bleeding duodenal ulcer (BDU) refractory to endoscopic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2006 to December 2016, all patients treated for a BDU refractory to endoscopic treatment were included in this observational, comparative, retrospective, single-center study. Primary endpoint was the overall success of treatment of BDU requiring surgical and/or TAE. The secondary endpoints were pre-interventional data, recurrence rates, feasibility of secondary treatment, morbidity and mortality of surgical and radiological treatment, intensive care unit and length of stay. A systematic review of the literature was performed to compare results of surgery and TAE. RESULTS: 59 out of 396 patients (14.9%) treated for BDU required embolization and/or surgery: 15 patients underwent surgery (group S) including 7 patients after embolization failure and 44 patients underwent TAE (group TAE). The overall treatment success in intention to treat (85.7% vs 67.3%), per protocol (80% vs 79.5%) and bleeding recurrence rates (20% vs 15.9%) were also identical. Mortality (14.2% vs 15.3%) was similar between the two groups. Our study data were pooled with data from eight published studies and suggest that surgery have significant increased overall success (68.3% vs. 55.4%, p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: The overall success rate was in favour of surgery according our meta-analysis. Our single-center study highlights the fact that predictive factors for recurrent bleeding after TAE must be identified to select good candidates for TAE and/or surgery.

Timing of Endoscopy for Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

BACKGROUND: It is recommended that patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding undergo endoscopy within 24 hours after gastroenterologic consultation. The role of endoscopy performed within time frames shorter than 24 hours has not been adequately defined. METHODS: To evaluate whether urgent endoscopy improves outcomes in patients predicted to be at high risk for further bleeding or death, we randomly assigned patients with overt signs of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding and a Glasgow-Blatchford score of 12 or higher (scores range from 0 to 23, with higher scores indicating a higher risk of further bleeding or death) to undergo endoscopy within 6 hours (urgent-endoscopy group) or between 6 and 24 hours (early-endoscopy group) after gastroenterologic consultation. The primary end point was death from any cause within 30 days after randomization. RESULTS: A total of 516 patients were enrolled. The 30-day mortality was 8.9% (23 of 258 patients) in the urgent-endoscopy group and 6.6% (17 of 258) in the early-endoscopy group (difference, 2.3 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -2.3 to 6.9). Further bleeding within 30 days occurred in 28 patients (10.9%) in the urgent-endoscopy group and in 20 (7.8%) in the early-endoscopy group (difference, 3.1 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.9 to 8.1). Ulcers with active bleeding or visible vessels were found on initial endoscopy in 105 of the 158 patients (66.4%) with peptic ulcers in the urgent-endoscopy group and in 76 of 159 (47.8%) in the early-endoscopy group. Endoscopic hemostatic treatment was administered at initial endoscopy for 155 patients (60.1%) in the urgent-endoscopy group and for 125 (48.4%) in the early-endoscopy group. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding who were at high risk for further bleeding or death, endoscopy performed within 6 hours after gastroenterologic consultation was not associated with lower 30-day mortality than endoscopy performed between 6 and 24 hours after consultation. (Funded by the Health and Medical Fund of the Food and Health Bureau, Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01675856.).

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleed: An audit of the causes and outcomes from a tertiary care center in eastern India.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Acute upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleed is a life-threatening emergency carrying risks of rebleed and mortality despite standard pharmacological and endoscopic management. We aimed to determine etiologies of acute UGI bleed in hospitalized patients and outcomes (rebleed rates, 5-day mortality, in-hospital mortality, 6-week mortality, need for surgery) and to determine predictors of rebleed and mortality. METHODS: Clinical and endoscopic findings were recorded in patients aged > 12 years who presented within 72 h of onset of UGI bleed. Outcomes were recorded during the hospital stay and 6 weeks after discharge. RESULTS: A total of 305 patients were included in this study, mean age being 44 ± 17 years. Most common etiology of UGI bleed was portal hypertension (62.3%) followed by peptic ulcer disease (PUD) (16.7%). Rebleed rate within 6 weeks was 37.4% (portal hypertension 47.9%, PUD 21.6%, malignancy 71.4%). Five-day mortality was 2.3% (malignancy 14.3%, portal hypertension 3.2%); the in-hospital mortality rate was 3.0% (malignancy 14.3%, portal hypertension 3.2%, PUD 0.0%) and 4.9% at 6 weeks (malignancy 28.6%, portal hypertension 5.8%, PUD 0.0%). Surgery was required in 4.59% patients. On multivariate analysis, post-endoscopy Rockall score was significantly predictive of rebleed in both portal hypertension- and PUD-related rebleed. No factors were found predictive of mortality in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Portal hypertension remains the commonest cause of UGI bleed in India and carries a higher risk of rebleed and mortality as compared to PUD-related bleed. Post-endoscopy Rockall score is a useful tool for clinicians to assess risk of rebleed.

Transcatheter Arterial Embolization Compared With Surgery for Uncontrolled Peptic Ulcer Bleeding: A Population-based Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare key outcomes after transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) with conventional surgery for peptic ulcer bleeding when endoscopic intervention fails to achieve hemostasis. BACKGROUND: Mortality in peptic ulcer bleeding remains high, especially in patients who require surgical treatment. METHODS: A population-based cohort study in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2000 to 2014, assessing the main outcome all-cause mortality and the secondary outcomes re-bleeding, re-intervention, length of hospitalization, and complications, was conducted. Data were taken from well-maintained registries and medical records. Multivariable Cox-regression provided hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for age, sex, ulcer history, comorbidity, and calendar period were considered. RESULTS: Included were 282 patients, 97 in the TAE group and 185 in the surgery group. Compared with the surgery group, the overall hazard of death was 34% decreased in the TAE group (adjusted HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.46-0.96). The corresponding HRs for mortality within 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, and 5 years were 0.70 (95% CI 0.37-1.35), 0.69 (95% CI 0.38-1.26), 0.88 (95% CI 0.53-1.47), and 0.67 (95% CI 0.45-1.00), respectively. The risk of re-bleeding was higher after TAE compared with surgery (HR 2.48, 95% CI 1.33-4.62). The median length of hospital stay was shorter in the TAE group-8 versus 16 days-acceleration factor 0.59 (95% CI 0.45-0.77) and the risk of complications was lower (8.3% vs 32.2%; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that TAE compares favorably with surgery regarding prognosis after refractory peptic ulcer bleeding, and the shorter length of hospital stay and fewer complications outweigh a higher risk of re-bleeding. TAE could be recommended as first-line treatment for these patients.

Assessment of endoscopic Doppler to guide hemostasis in high risk peptic ulcer bleeding.

INTRODUCTION: Rebleeding or emergency surgery in failed endoscopic therapy of peptic ulcer bleeding are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. The clinical benefit of an endoscopic Doppler (ED) examination prior to endoscopic injection therapy was evaluated in high risk ulcer patients for rebleeding episode. Standard injection therapy (non-Doppler (ND)) was compared with targeted injection therapy after examination of the supplying vessel in the ulcer base by the ED. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with peptic ulcer bleeding (Forrest Ia-IIa; Rockall score of 5 or higher) were included in the study. Patients were assigned to ED or ND group with conventional therapy by chance. In the ND group injection was directed by the visual aspect of the ulcer, whereas in ED therapy was directed by ED. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients were allocated to the ED group, and 25 to the ND group, respectively. No significant differences in patient or ulcer characteristics were observed regarding ulcer size, localization, Forrest classification or endoscopic treatment. Recurrent bleeding was observed in 7/35 (20%) in the ED group and in 13/25 (52%) of patients in the ND group (p = .013). Fewer ED patients needed surgery for rebleeding (1/35 vs. 6/25; p = .017). Bleeding related, but not all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the ED group (1/35 vs. 6/25, p = .017). DISCUSSION: In this comparative analysis, use of ED to guide hemostatic therapy was associated with a significant reduction in recurrence of bleeding, surgical intervention and bleeding associated mortality.

Short-term outcomes after emergency surgery for complicated peptic ulcer disease from the UK National Emergency Laparotomy Audit: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: This study used national audit data to describe current management and outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for complications of peptic ulcer disease (PUD), including perforation and bleeding. It was also planned to explore factors associated with fatal outcome after surgery for perforated ulcers. These analyses were designed to provide a thorough understanding of current practice and identify potentially modifiable factors associated with outcome as targets for future quality improvement. DESIGN: National cohort study using National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) data. SETTING: English and Welsh hospitals within the National Health Service. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients admitted as an emergency with perforated or bleeding PUD between December 2013 and November 2015. INTERVENTIONS: Laparotomy for bleeding or perforated peptic ulcer. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was 60-day in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included length of postoperative stay, readmission and reoperation rate. RESULTS: 2444 and 382 procedures were performed for perforated and bleeding ulcers, respectively. In-hospital 60-day mortality rates were 287/2444 (11.7%, 95% CI 10.5% to 13.1%) for perforations, and 68/382 (17.8%, 95% CI 14.1% to 22.0%) for bleeding. Median (IQR) 2-year institutional volume was 12 (7-17) and 2 (1-3) for perforation and bleeding, respectively. In the exploratory analysis, age, American Society of Anesthesiology score and preoperative systolic blood pressure were associated with mortality, with no association with time from admission to operation, surgeon grade or operative approach. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing surgery for complicated PUD face a high 60-day mortality risk. Exploratory analyses suggested fatal outcome was primarily associated with patient rather than provider care factors. Therefore, it may be challenging to reduce mortality rates further. NELA data provide important benchmarking for patient consent and has highlighted low institutional volume and high mortality rates after surgery for bleeding peptic ulcers as a target for future research and improvement.

Factors Associated with Rebleeding in Patients with Peptic Ulcer Bleeding: Analysis of the Korean Peptic Ulcer Bleeding (K-PUB) Study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Rebleeding is associated with mortality in patients with peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB), and risk stratification is important for the management of these patients. The purpose of our study was to examine the risk factors associated with rebleeding in patients with PUB. METHODS: The Korean Peptic Ulcer Bleeding registry is a large prospectively collected database of patients with PUB who were hospitalized between 2014 and 2015 at 28 medical centers in Korea. We examined the basic characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients in this registry. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the factors associated with rebleeding. RESULTS: In total, 904 patients with PUB were registered, and 897 patients were analyzed. Rebleeding occurred in 7.1% of the patients (64), and the 30-day mortality was 1.0% (nine patients). According to the multivariate analysis, the risk factors for rebleeding were the presence of co-morbidities, use of multiple drugs, albumin levels, and hematemesis/hematochezia as initial presentations. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of co-morbidities, use of multiple drugs, albumin levels, and initial presentations with hematemesis/hematochezia can be indicators of rebleeding in patients with PUB. The wide use of proton pump inhibitors and prompt endoscopic interventions may explain the low incidence of rebleeding and low mortality rates in Korea.

Peptic ulcer bleeding patients with Rockall scores ≥6 are at risk of long-term ulcer rebleeding: A 3.5-year prospective longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Patients with high Rockall scores have increased risk of rebleeding and mortality within 30 days after peptic ulcer bleeding, but long-term outcomes deserve follow-up after cessation of proton pump inhibitors. The paper aimed to validate whether patients with high Rockall scores have more recurrent ulcer bleeding in a 3.5-year longitudinal cohort. METHODS: Between August 2011 and July 2014, 368 patients with peptic ulcer bleeding were prospectively enrolled after endoscopic hemostasis to receive proton pump inhibitors for at least 8 to 16 weeks. These subjects were categorized into either a Rockall scores ≥6 group (n = 257) or a Rockall scores <6 group (n = 111) and followed up until July of 2015 to assess recurrent ulcer bleeding. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with rebleeding during the 3.5-year follow-up was higher in patients with Rockall scores ≥6 than in those with scores <6 (10.51 vs. 3.63 per 100 person-year, P = 0.004, log-rank test). Among patients with Rockall scores ≥6, activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged ≥1.5-fold (P = 0.045), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status class ≥III (P = 0.02), and gastric ulcer (P = 0.04) were three additional independent factors found to increase rebleeding risk. The cumulative rebleeding rate was higher in patients with Rockall scores ≥6 with more than or equal to any two additional factors than in those with fewer than two additional factors (15.69 vs. 7.63 per 100 person-year, P = 0.012, log-rank test). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with Rockall scores ≥6 are at risk of long-term recurrent peptic ulcer bleeding. The risk can be independently increased by the presence of activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged ≥1.5-fold, American Society of Anesthesiologists class ≥III, and gastric ulcer in patients with Rockall scores ≥6.

A Hybrid Residual Network and Long Short-Term Memory Method for Peptic Ulcer Bleeding Mortality Prediction.

The prediction of patient mortality, which can detect high-risk patients, is a significant yet challenging problem in medical informatics. Thanks to the wide adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), many data-driven methods have been proposed to forecast mortality. However, most existing methods do not consider correlations between static and dynamic data, which contain significant information about mutual influences between these data. In this paper, we utilize a deep Residual Network (ResNet) consisting of many convolution units, which can jointly analyze different variables, to capture correlation information in and between static and dynamic variables. Furthermore, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method is used to extract temporal dependencies information from dynamic data. Finally, a deep fusion method is used to integrate these different types of information to improve mortality prediction. Experiment results on Peptic Ulcer Bleeding (PUB) mortality prediction show that the proposed method outperforms existing methods and achieves an AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) score of 0.9353.

Stopping antithrombotic therapy after acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding is associated with reduced survival.

INTRODUCTION: Antithrombotic drugs are often stopped following acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (AUGIB) and frequently not restarted. The practice of antithrombotic discontinuation on discharge and its impact on outcomes are unclear. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether restarting antithrombotic therapy, prior to hospital discharge for AUGIB, affected clinical outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: University hospital between May 2013 and November 2014, with median follow-up of 259 days. PATIENTS: Patients who underwent gastroscopy for AUGIB while on antithrombotic therapy. INTERVENTIONS: Continuation or cessation of antithrombotic(s) at discharge. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Cause-specific mortality, thrombotic events, rebleeding and serious adverse events (any of the above). RESULTS: Of 118 patients analysed, antithrombotic treatment was stopped in 58 (49.2%). Older age, aspirin monotherapy and peptic ulcer disease were significant predictors of antithrombotic discontinuation, whereas dual antiplatelet use predicted antithrombotic maintenance. The 1-year postdischarge mortality rate was 11.3%, with deaths mainly due to thrombotic causes. Stopping antithrombotic therapy at the time of discharge was associated with increased mortality (HR 3.32; 95% CI 1.07 to 10.31, P=0.027), thrombotic events (HR 5.77; 95% CI 1.26 to 26.35, P=0.010) and overall adverse events (HR 2.98; 95% CI 1.32 to 6.74, P=0.006), with effects persisting after multivariable adjustment for age and peptic ulcer disease. On subgroup analysis, the thromboprotective benefit remained significant with continuation of non-aspirin regimens (P=0.016). There were no significant differences in postdischarge bleeding rates between groups (HR 3.43, 0.36 to 33.04, P=0.255). CONCLUSION: In this hospital-based study, discontinuation of antithrombotic therapy is associated with increased thrombotic events and reduced survival.

Hypoalbuminemia is a predictor of mortality and rebleeding in peptic ulcer bleeding under proton pump inhibitor use.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Peptic ulcer bleeding remains a deadly disease, and a simple indicator of long-term outcomes is crucial. This study validated whether hypoalbuminemia and its related factors in patients with peptic ulcer bleeding can indicate long-term mortality and rebleeding under proton pump inhibitor use. METHODS: The prospective cohort study enrolled 426 patients with peptic ulcer bleeding who had high risk stigmata at endoscopy and had received endoscopic hemostasis. They were divided into 79 patients in the hypoalbuminemia group (Hypo-AG, serum albumin <28 g/L), 135 in the marginal hypoalbuminemia group (Margin-AG, serum albumin 28-34.9 g/L), and 212 in the normal albuminemia group (Normal-AG, serum albumin ≥35 g/L). Each subject received 72-h of intravenous infusion and then the oral form of proton pump inhibitors and were monitored for 84 days to assess all-cause mortality and recurrent bleeding. RESULTS: The primary outcome of all-cause mortality rates were increased in a stepwise fashion in a trend from Normal-AG, Margin-AG, to Hypo-AG (0-28th day: 1.9%, 2.2%, 12.8%, p < 0.001; 29th-84th day: 2.5%, 8.0%, 10.6%, p < 0.01). The secondary outcome of recurrent bleeding rates were also increased in the same fashion (0-28th day: 6.4%, 15.4%, 24.6%, p < 0.001; 29th-84th day: 0%, 3.0%, 4.2%, p = 0.01). Abnormal albuminemia was <30 g/L related to hemoglobin levels <70 g/L, nosocomial bleeding, cirrhosis, age ≥70 years, shock, and ulcer size ≥1.0 cm independently (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Hypoalbuminemia in patients with peptic ulcer bleeding can be an alarm indicator of all-cause mortality and recurrent bleeding in a long-term follow-up situation under proton pump inhibitor use (NCT01591083).

Scoring systems for peptic ulcer bleeding: Which one to use?

AIM: To compare the Glasgow-Blatchford score (GBS), Rockall score (RS) and Baylor bleeding score (BBS) in predicting clinical outcomes and need for interventions in patients with bleeding peptic ulcers. METHODS: Between January 2008 and December 2013, 1012 consecutive patients admitted with peptic ulcer bleeding (PUB) were prospectively followed. The pre-endoscopic RS, BBS and GBS, as well as the post-endoscopic diagnostic scores (RS and BBS) were calculated for all patients according to their urgent upper endoscopy findings. Area under the receiver-operating characteristics (AUROC) curves were calculated for the prediction of lethal outcome, rebleeding, needs for blood transfusion and/or surgical intervention, and the optimal cutoff values were evaluated. RESULTS: PUB accounted for 41.9% of all upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding, 5.2% patients died and 5.4% patients underwent surgery. By comparing the AUROC curves of the aforementioned pre-endoscopic scores, the RS best predicted lethal outcome (AUROC 0.82 vs 0.67 vs 0.63, respectively), but the GBS best predicted need for hospital-based intervention or 30-d mortality (AUROC 0.84 vs 0.57 vs 0.64), rebleeding (AUROC 0.75 vs 0.61 vs 0.53), need for blood transfusion (AUROC 0.83 vs 0.63 vs 0.58) and surgical intervention (0.82 vs 0.63 vs 0.52) The post-endoscopic RS was also better than the post-endoscopic BBS in predicting lethal outcome (AUROC 0.82 vs 0.69, respectively). CONCLUSION: The RS is the best predictor of mortality and the GBS is the best predictor of rebleeding, need for blood transfusion and/or surgical intervention in patients with PUB. There is no one 'perfect score' and we suggest that these two tests be used concomitantly.