Background: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a major cause of clinical bleeding among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This study aimed to investigate the association between mortality and UGIB in patients with uremia.
Methods: From 2004 to 2010, a tertiary hospital-based retrospective cohort comprising 322 patients undergoing hemodialysis was investigated. All the patients were diagnosed with UGIB according to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) that included peptic ulcer bleeding, duodenal ulcer bleeding, and other symptoms. UGIB was required to be one of the first three discharge diagnoses. Rehospitalization within 3 days after discharge was regarded as the same course. Exclusion criteria were age <20 years, previous gastric resection or vagotomy, esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding, or gastric cancer within the first 2 years of the index hospitalization.
Results: The all-cause in-hospital mortality rate of patients with UGIB undergoing hemodialysis was high, with the first-month mortality rate of 13.7%, sixth-month mortality rate of 26.7%, and first-year mortality rate of 27.0%. Using Cox regression models, we found that the high mortality rate of the UGIB group was significantly correlated with older age [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.04], female sex (adjusted HR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.05-2.51), infection during hospitalization (adjusted HR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.13-3.03), single episodic UGIB (adjusted HR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.08-3.70), abnormal white blood cell (WBC) count (adjusted HR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.03-2.45), and albumin level ≤3 g/dL (adjusted HR = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.51-4.72).
Conclusion: In conclusion, patients with ESRD who are admitted with primary UGIB have a profoundly increased risk of all-cause in-hospital mortality during the follow-up period.