Indications and findings in patients referred for endoscopy in a private health centre in Sokoto, Northwestern Nigeria

Upper gastrointestinal tract symptoms are associated with a major morbidity and mortality globally. Endoscopy offers direct visualization of the pathology and enables both diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Request for the procedure is on the increase probably due to exposure to more risk factors or because of increased awareness about the disease. We aimed to study the indications and findings in patients referred for endoscopy. We enrolled a total of 1747 patients between January 2013-December 2019.Their demographic characteristics and findings on endoscopy were extracted from the endoscopy register. Males constituted 937 (53.7%), with a mean age of 42.50 ± 14.13   and females 41.38 ± 16.73. The age range of patients was 15-87 years. The commonest indication was dyspepsia 1122(64.2%).There was no significant statistical difference between gender with respect to dyspepsia (ꭓ2= 0.8511 p-value = 0.3563. Upper gastro-intestinal bleeding (UGIB)  was the second most common 10.3%, Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) 9.9%, and chronic liver disease (CLD) 8.0%.There was  significant statistical difference in gender presentation of UGIB ( ꭓ2= 6.49 p-value= 0.0109 and CLD ꭓ2= 21.109 p-value=  0.00001).Gastritis was the predominant endoscopic finding, 628(35.9%). Esophageal varices were the c ommonest etiologic finding for UGIB (51.6%) and commoner in males (ꭓ2= 11.083 p-value= 0.0009), then gastric and duodenal ulcers, 11.4% and 2.7% respectively. Hiatus hernia was 157(9.0%) Upper gastrointestinal malignancies were 2.4%. In conclusion, dyspepsia is a common clinical presentation in patients with GIT symptoms. Variceal bleeding is a significant cause of UGIB, therefore early endoscopic CLD screening will help reduce morbidity and mortality in Nigeria.