Results of gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations in patients with iron defıciency anemia

Abstract

Endoscopic procedures are usually carried out in order to diagnose the cause of iron deficiency anemia (IDA). We aimed to evaluate endoscopic findings of our patients with iron deficiency anemia retrospectively.Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed our computerized data of patients who attended to Haydarpasa Numune Education and Research Hospital Gastroentology Endoscopy Unit between 2008 and 2010 years. Patients in whom upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and/or colonoscopy were performed in order to diagnose the cause of IDA were included in this study.Results: This study included 490 patients with iron deficiency anemia in whom upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and/or colonoscopy were performed. The mean age of patients was 58.94 ± 14.8 years. Of these patients, 288 (172 female, 116 male) underwent only upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, 116 (61 female, 55 male) underwent only colonoscopy and 84 (39 male, 45 female) underwent both upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy. The rates of failure to reveal the cause of IDA in patients in whom either upper gastrointestinal endoscopy or colonoscopy had been performed were 18.75% and 46.55%, respectively. On other hand, the ratio of failure to reveal the cause of IDA was 3.48% in patients in whom both upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy had been performed.Conclusion: When referring any patient with iron deficiency anemia to endoscopy unit, ordering both upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy may allow us to find the reason more accurately