Characteristics of Hemorrhagic Peptic Ulcers in Patients Receiving Antithrombotic/Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drug Therapy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Antithrombotic/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) therapies increase the incidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The features of hemorrhagic peptic ulcer disease in patients receiving antithrombotic/NSAID therapies were investigated. METHODS: We investigated the medical records of 485 consecutive patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and were diagnosed with hemorrhagic gastroduodenal ulcers. The patients treated with antithrombotic agents/NSAIDs were categorized as the antithrombotic therapy (AT) group (n=213). The patients who were not treated with antithrombotics/NSAIDs were categorized as the control (C) group (n=263). The clinical characteristics were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The patients in the AT group were significantly older than those in the C group (p<0.0001). The hemoglobin levels before/without transfusion were significantly lower in the AT group (8.24±2.41 g/dL) than in the C group (9.44±2.95 g/dL) (p<0.0001). After adjusting for age, the difference in the hemoglobin levels between the two groups remained significant (p=0.0334). The transfusion rates were significantly higher in the AT group than in the C group (p=0.0002). However, the outcome of endoscopic hemostasis was similar in the AT and C groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with hemorrhagic peptic ulcers receiving antithrombotic/NSAID therapies were exposed to a greater risk of severe bleeding that required transfusion but were still treatable by endoscopy.