Colonoscopic Findings of Patients with Lower Gastrointestinal Bleeding in Erbil City

Abstract

Background and objectives: Rectal bleeding is a frequent symptom in young people and often over- investigated.Rectal bleeding is defined as bleeding from lower gastrointestinal tract, which means bleeding from a place distal to ligament of Treitz. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of different causes of rectal bleeding in young patients. Methods: Four hundred and seventy patients with rectal bleeding were selected in out-patient department were referred to gastroenterology units of Hawler and Rizgary Hospital in Erbil. Patients with suspected upper GI source of bleeding excluded from the study. All patients were subjected to colonoscopy after preparation of the gut and the findings were recorded. When it was necessary, biopsy samples were also taken. Diagnosis was based on colonoscop- ic findings. Results: The total number of patients was 470. Their mean age + SD were 31.96 + 7.65 years, the median was 32 years, ranging from 12 to 46 years, more than one third of patients had hemorrhoids, either alone (35.7%), or with other finding, (45%) of patients had hemorrhoid with or without other diseases, (8.3%) had inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal tumor (4.7%), also 21.3% of patients found to be normal. Conclusions:Haemorrhoids were the main cause of bleeding per rectum, followed by evidence of inflammatory bowel disease. The incidence of colorectal tumor was low (4.7%). Though most findings were benign, colonoscopy should be strongly considered for this patient group with non urgent rectal bleeding.