Patient characteristics with high or low blood urea nitrogen in upper gastrointestinal bleeding

摘要

AIM: To examine characteristics of patients with blood urea nitrogen(BUN) levels higher and lower than the normal limit.METHODS: Patient records between April 2011 and March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. During this time, 3296 patients underwent upper endoscopy. In total, 50 male(69.2 ± 13.2 years) and 26 female(72.3 ± 10.2 years) patients were assessed. Patients were divided into two groups based on BUN levels: higher than the normal limit(21.0 mg/d L)(H) and lower thanthe normal limit(L). One-way analysis of variance was performed to reveal differences in the variables between the H and L groups. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the percentage of patients with gastric ulcer or gastric cancer in the H and L groups.RESULTS: White blood cell count was higher in the H group than in the L group(P = 0.0047). Hemoglobin level was lower in the H group than in the L group(P = 0.0307). Glycated hemoglobin was higher in the H group than in the L group(P = 0.0264). The percentage of patients with gastric ulcer was higher in the H group(P = 0.0002). The H group contained no patients with gastric cancer.CONCLUSION: Patients with BUN ≥ 21 mg/d L might have more severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding.