How does cirrhosis impact mortality, morbidity, and resource utilization in non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding? A nationwide analysis

Introduction: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is common in liver cirrhosis patients. Studies have described the prognostic impact of liver disease in non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB), but a direct subgroup comparison is lacking using a large database. Aim: To study the impact of NVUGIB on hospital-based outcomes in patients with cirrhosis. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study using Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) employing International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes for adult patients with a primary diagnosis of NVUGIB. Mortality, morbidity, and resource utilization were compared. Analyses were performed using STATA, proportions were compared using Fisher exact test, and continuous variables using Student’s t-test. Confounding variables were adjusted using propensity matching, multivariate logistic, and linear regression analyses. Results: Of 107,001,355 discharges, 957,719 had a diagnosis of NVUGIB. Of those, 92,439 had cirrhosis upon admission. NVUGIB patients with cirrhosis had higher adjusted odds of mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission than patients without cirrhosis (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for mortality 1.31, p < 0.001, ICU admission AOR = 1.29, p < 0.001). NVUGIB patients with cirrhosis had shorter length of stay (LOS) by 0.44 days (p < 0.001), greater hospital costs per day ($3114 vs. $2810, p < 0.001), and lower odds of acute kidney injury (AOR = 0.81, p < 0.001). In addition, the cirrhotic patients had higher odds of receiving endoscopic therapy (AOR = 1.08, p < 0.001). There was no difference between the 2 groups’ requirements of packed red blood cell transfusion, parenteral nutrition, hypovolaemic shock, and endotracheal intubation. We also identified novel independent predictors of mortality from NVUGIB in cirrhosis patients. Conclusions: Cirrhosis presents greater mortality and morbidity burden and greater healthcare resource utilization from NVUGIB.