Patterns of upper endoscopic findings among patients presented with dyspepsia before and after armed conflict in Sudan: a retrospective study from two centers

Dyspepsia is a common gastrointestinal complaint. Diagnosis depends on endoscopy; however diagnostic findings are inadequately studied in low resource settings like in Sudan. We aim in this study to assess demographics, symptoms, and endoscopic findings, including the impact of armed conflict in patients with dyspepsia. Two institutes-based retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study where records from 2016 to 2024 of 385 consecutive patients with dyspepsia who underwent oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGD) were included. R software was used to extract and analyze data. Data presented using tables, figures, and descriptive statistics. Among 385 patients, 97.4% were undergoing OGD for the first time. Pathologic findings were observed in 91.7% of the patients. 100% of repeated OGD reported abnormal findings. The most frequent diagnosis was antral gastritis (Statistically significant with age ( p = 0.022)), followed by antral gastritis/duodenitis and then duodenitis. Most esophageal findings were normal. Bile reflux gastritis had male predominance and gastric mass was predominant in above 65 years. Pre-war and post-war results were statistically significant ( p = 0.008) regarding antral gastritis. Weight loss was commoner post-war. Age, gender, and the armed conflict were important factors for dyspepsia. The observed changes in disease patterns during armed conflict underscore the need for context-adapted management of dyspepsia and for future studies.