The 30 days readmission among patients with upper GI bleeding and its causative factors: An experience of tertiary care hospital in Karachi.

Abstract

Objective: To determine frequency and factors causing 30 days readmission rate among patients of upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) at a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Prospective Cohort study. Setting: Department of Gastroenterology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Period: July 2023 to June 2024. Methods: A total of 192 patients of either gender, aged 18 years or above, and admitted in hospital with UGIB were analyzed. Patients demographic, clinical and laboratory data were gathered. The final study outcome variable was 30 days all cause readmission. Data was entered in SPSS version 26 to perform statistical analysis. Results: Total 192 patients were studied mean age of 54.9 ± 13.2 years. Most of patients were males (80%). Presenting symptoms included melena (39.4%), hematemesis (47.4%) and drowsiness (5.7%), vomiting (4.2%), fever (2.1%) and SOB (2.1%). Readmission rate was 20.8%. Causes of readmission are rebleeding (80%), infection (2.6%) and electrolyte imbalance (1.6%). Increasing sodium levels were also associated with lower readmission risk. Increasing INR was associated with increasing readmission risk. Conclusion: This study concludes that 30 days readmission rate among UGIB patients is noticeably high. Rebleeding, infections, and electrolyte imbalance were the most common factors behind readmission among UGIB patients.