Evaluation of the endoscopic diagnosis of patients treated for iron deficiency anemia

Objective: The most frequent cause of iron deficiency anemia in postmenopausal women and men is chronic loss from the gastrointestinal tract. We aimed to evaluate the findings of the endoscopic procedures for the patients treated with iron deficiency anemia in a retrospective manner. Methods: In our clinic, the results of endoscopic procedures for the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia collected during the period between 2013-2017 were retrospectively screened from patient files. Results: A total of 246 patients with postmenopausal women and men who were diagnosed with iron deficiency in our hospital and completed file recordings and underwent endoscopy for etiology were taken. Of all the patients, 148 (60.1%) were female and 98 (39.9%) were male. The mean age of our patients was recorded as 54.7± 12.8 (18-73) years. 23.9% of the patients undergoing endoscopic evaluation were evaluated as normal. Erosive gastritis was found in 21.8%, pangastrit in 19.2%, antral gastrit in 9.8%, atrophic pangastrit in 8.6%, gastric ulcer in 6.8%, opere stomach in 3.2% and duodenal ulcer in 2.7%, polyp in 2.1%, gastric tumor in 1.9% of the patients with abnormal endoscopic examinations. Hemorrhoid was found in %20.2, polyp in %16.4, hemorrhoid+ polyp in %12.2, colon tumors in %6.3, angiodisplasia in %5, and anal fissure in 5 of our patients, one patient with ischemic colitis, diverticula, terminal ileitis and inflammatory bowel disease without any pathology in %28 of the 74 patients undergoing colonoscopy. The number of patients with normal upper gastrointestinal endoscopy but not normal colonoscopy was 12 (16.2%). Of these, 8 (10.8%) were male and 4 (5.4%) were female. Conclusion: Both upper and lower GIS endoscopies have an important role in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal chronic blood loss, which is one of the most important causes of iron deficiency anemia in men and postmenopausal women. The combination of gastroscopy and colonoscopy is critical for diagnosis