Rockall score of the acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding patients the experience in Sudan

Abstract

Introduction: Innovation of scoring systems helps to rectify personal experience based on subjective evaluation of outcome of patient treatment. Objectives: To predict the morbidity and mortality in patients presenting with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding at Ibn-Sina Hospital using the Rockall score. Patients and methods: Prospective hospital-based study conducted from June 2007 through December 2007 at the Ibn-Sina Hospital Bleeding Centre. Demographic, data of history and physical examination and results of laboratory investigations of 238 patients were collected and allotted a Rockall score, Child-Pugh class and fed to Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) to calculate means and find the levels of statistical differences and define the predicted and observed mortality rates. Results: The mean (±SD) age 44.6 (±15.31) range (8-85) years. There were 190 (79%) males. Patients with oesophageal varices, peptic ulcer, and upper GI tumours were 215 (90.3%), 18 (7.6%), and 5 (2.1%) respectively. The mean predicted mortality was 3.8% while the actual observed mortality 3.8%. The mortality in cases of oesophageal varices was 8(3.4%), while that of bleeding peptic ulcers was one (0.4%). Conclusion: Rockall score is feasible, accurate, effective system for predicting outcome in patients with upper GI bleeding. The risk factor for mortality are Rockall score >3, age >70 and rebleeding.