Appropriateness of the study of iron deficiency anemia prior to referral for small bowel evaluation at a tertiary center

作     者：Jaime Pereira Rodrigues Rolando Pinho Joana Silva Ana Ponte Mafalda Sousa Joao Carlos Silva Joao Carvalho 

作者机构：Department of GastroenterologyCentro Hospitalar Vila Nova de Gaia/EspinhoRua Conceicao FernandesVila Nova de Gaia 

出 版 物：《World Journal of Gastroenterology》 (世界胃肠病学杂志（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2017年第23卷第24期

页      面：4444-4453页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100201[医学-内科学(含：心血管病、血液病、呼吸系病、消化系病、内分泌与代谢病、肾病、风湿病、传染病)] 10[医学] 

主　　题：Iron deficiency anemia Colonoscopy Celiac disease Esophagogastroduodenoscopy Helicobacter pylori Small bowel 

摘      要：To evaluate the adequacy of the study of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in real life practice prior to referral to a gastroenterology department for small bowel evaluation. METHODSAll consecutive patients referred to a gastroenterology department for small bowel investigation due to iron deficiency anemia, between January 2013 and December 2015 were included. Both patients referred from general practitioners or directly from different hospital departments were selected. Relevant clinical information regarding prior anemia workup was retrospectively collected from medical records. An appropriate pre-referral study was considered the execution of esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) investigation, colonoscopy with quality standards (recent, total and with adequate preparation) and celiac disease (CD) screening (through serologic testing and/or histopathological investigation). RESULTSA total of 77 patients (58.4% female, mean age 67.1 ± 16.7 years) were included. Most (53.2%) patients were referred from general practitioners, 41.6% from other hospital specialties and 5.2% directly from the emergency department. The mean pre-referral hemoglobin concentration was 8.8 ± 2.0 g/dL and the majority of anemias had microcytic (71.4%) and hypochromic (72.7%) characteristics. 77.9% of patients presented with an incomplete pre-referral study: EGD in 97.4%, with H. pylori investigation in 58.3%, colonoscopy with quality criteria in 63.6%, and CD screening in 24.7%. Patients with an appropriate study at the time of referral were younger (48.7 ± 17.7 vs 72.3 ± 12.3 years, P 0.001). Small bowel evaluation was ultimately undertaken in 72.7% of patients, with a more frequent evaluation in patients with a quality colonoscopy at referral (78.6% vs 23.8%); P 0.001 (OR = 11.7, 95%CI: 3.6-38.6). The most common diagnosis regarded as the likely cause of IDA was small bowel angioectasia (18.2%) but additional causes were also found in the upper and lower ga