Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in a Sub-Urban Population of South-East Nigeria: A 2.5 Year Analysis

Background: Gastrointestinal endoscopy is a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure vital for the management of gastrointestinal pathologies. This is indispensable in modern medicine. We report our early experience with video gastrointestinal endoscopy at the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia, a tertiary hospital in southeast Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study of all patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy(OGD) at the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia in the two and half year period between July 2020 and December 2022 was done.

Results: The patients comprised 60 females (51.7%) and 56 males(48.3%). The mean age of the patients was 55.3 ± 17.0 with a range of 14-90 years. Dyspepsia and gastrointestinal haemorrhage accounted for over three-quarters of the indication for endoscopy. The most frequent findings at endoscopy were features of gastritis, followed by gastroduodenal erosions. Twenty-three (19.8%) of the patients had normal findings at endoscopy. Mass lesions were seen in 9.5% of the cases.

Conclusion: The diagnostic yield of endoscopy is high in appropriate indications. The appreciable proportion of oesophago-gastric tumours seen should stimulate further research. Despite the infancy of our practice, our outcomes were similar to other established centres in our nation.