Age is not a discriminating factor for outcomes of therapeutic upper gastrointestinal endoscopy

Background/Aims: To compare the efficacy and complications of therapeutic endoscopy for acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding between the geriatric (aged 65 and older) and non-geriatric patients. Methodology: A total of 134 out of 259 hospitalized patients in the year 2005 had high-risk endoscopic lesions in UGI endoscopy and received therapeutic endoscopy. Seventy-six out of 134 patients were aged 65 and older (44 men), while 58 patients were aged 64 and younger (51 men). We compared clinical presentations, co-morbidities, endoscopic therapeutic procedures, endoscopic treatment failure, hospitalization days, blood transfusion, post-endoscopy complications (fever, acute coronary syndrome, aspiration pneumonia), and in-hospital mortality after therapeutic endoscopy. Results: Geriatric patients had lower hemoglobin on arrival (9.19±2.7 vs. 10.64±2.46g/dL, p=0.002) and larger gastric ulcers (7.3±6.9 vs. 4.0±3.6mm, p=0.008). Failure of therapeutic endoscopy, defined as salvage endoscopy or surgery within 48 hours after first endoscopy, showed no difference (14% vs. 14%, p=0.98). Hospitalization stay (mean 7.47 vs. 5.97 days, p=0.2), blood transfusion more than 4 units (47% vs. 34%, p=0.13), post-endoscopic complications, in-hospital mortality were all comparable between geriatrics and non-geriatrics. Conclusions: Our results serve a scientific basis that age is not a discriminating factor for outcomes in current therapeutic endoscopy.