An evaluation of gastrointestinal endoscopic examination outcomes in patients with iron deficiency through guidelines

Introduction:Chronic blood loss and intestinal malabsorption of iron are two important causes of iron deficiency in adult patients.We evaluated the demographic data and endoscopy findings of patients who underwent endoscopic examination due to iron deficiency. Materials and Method:The study was designed retrospectively.The database of patients who underwent endoscopic examination due to ID and/or IDA in the endoscopy unit of our hospital between June 2017-April 2020 were found through the database scan. After exclusion of patients with active bleeding finding, remaining 326 patients were evaluated. Findings:Median age of the patients was 58 years. The participants included 182 males and 144 females. Ninety three patients were below 50 years of age whereas 133 patients were above 50 years of age. Endoscopy was performed in 13.2% of the patients; colonoscopy was performed in 2.5% of the patients; and endoscopy + colonoscopy (dual procedure) was performed in 84.4% of the patients. Endoscopic examinations revealed pathological findings that may cause ID/IDA in 69.3% of the patients; however, no gastrointestinal pathology that may cause ID/IDA was detected in 30.7% of the patients.Twelve patients were diagnosed with malign diseases. Detection of any pathology that may cause ID/IDA during endoscopic examinations was significantly more in the dual examination group when compared to patients who had EGD or colonoscopy (p