Evaluation of laboratory parameters and imaging findings in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding

Acute gastrointestinal system (GIS) bleeding is one of the critical clinical conditions associated with high mortality and morbidity risk in patients presenting to the emergency department. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the role of laboratory parameters (hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet count, ALT, AST, urea, creatinine, BUN, eGFR, lactate, ionized calcium) and noninvasive imaging methods (jugular venous diameter and carotid artery diameter) in predicting 1-month mortality and morbidity in patients with GIS bleeding admitted to the emergency department. This study was designed as a prospective single-center study and included 76 patients admitted to the Emergency Department of Süleyman Demirel University. Of the patients, 52.6% (n=40) were male, and 47.4% (n=36) were female. At the 1-month follow-up, 84.2% (n=64) of the patients survived, while 15.8% (n=12) died. The analysis showed that parameters such as jugular venous diameter (JVD), carotid artery diameter (CAD), and Glasgow-Blatchford Score (GBS) play a significant role in predicting mortality risk. JVD had the highest predictive value for mortality (AUC: 0.771). CAD showed high sensitivity in predicting mortality (100%). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) had the highest specificity in predicting mortality (78.12%). GBS demonstrated high sensitivity in predicting mortality (83.33%). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patients with GBS ≤10, JVD >0.83 cm, and CAD >0.68 cm had significantly higher 1-month survival rates. Correlation analysis showed a moderate negative correlation between GBS and JVD/CAD, and a strong positive correlation between JVD and CAD. This study demonstrates that noninvasive methods (JVD and CAD) are effective in predicting mortality and morbidity risk in patients with GIS bleeding. The use of these parameters in emergency department settings may contribute to early diagnosis and treatment. However, these findings need to be supported by larger patient groups and multicenter studies. In our study, JVD and CAD measured at the time of admission in patients diagnosed with GIS bleeding in the emergency department were found to be successful in predicting 1-month mortality. Keywords: Gastrointestinal bleeding, jugular venous diameter, carotid artery diameter, noninvasive imaging, mortality