Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Particularities of Diagnosis and Therapy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a retrospective study of 268 patients at the Pantelimon Emergency Hospital in Romania found that upper gastrointestinal bleeding cases were more severe due to delayed medical attention and pandemic-related factors. Peptic ulcers were the most common cause, and 8.95% of patients were infected with SARS-CoV-2. The study used the Rockall score to evaluate severity, with higher scores indicating a need for more invasive interventions. Treatment varied, with 79.9% receiving drug therapy, 6.7% undergoing minimally invasive procedures, and 13.4% requiring surgery. The study highlighted the complexity of managing gastrointestinal bleeding during the pandemic, especially in patients with comorbidities and those on anticoagulant therapy, and concluded that COVID-19 association with gastrointestinal bleeding could lead to poorer outcomes, necessitating sustained and adaptive treatment strategies.