Causes of gastrointestinal bleeding in children based on endoscopic evaluation at a tertiary care center in Bahrain

Table 3 Causes of gastrointestinal bleeding in children in relation to age group

Causesa	Age group (yr)			Total, n (%)	P valueb
	0-4, n = 58 (23.2)	5-9, n = 82 (32.8)	10-18, n = 107 (42.8)
Inflammatory bowel disease	10 (17.2)	27 (32.9)	40 (37.4)	77 (30.8)	0.026
Gastritis	16 (27.6)	23 (28)	31 (29)	70 (28)	0.980
Unclear cause (normal)	3 (5.2)	4 (4.9)	17 (15.9)	24 (9.6)	0.017
Gastroenteritis	7 (12.1)	9 (11)	6 (5.6)	22 (8.8)	0.275
Duodenal ulcer	5 (8.6)	4 (4.9)	11 (10.3)	20 (8)	0.397
Esophagitis	4 (6.9)	5 (6.1)	6 (5.6)	15 (6)	0.947
Rectal polyp	6 (10.3)	5 (6.1)	4 (3.7)	15 (6)	0.237
Anal fissure	1 (1.7)	5 (6.1)	5 (4.7)	11 (4.4)	0.461
Peptic ulcer	4 (6.9)	4 (4.9)	1 (0.9)	9 (3.6)	0.114
Colonic ulcers	2 (3.4)	5 (6.1)	2 (1.9)	9 (3.6)	0.305
Rectal ulcer	0 (0)	2 (2.4)	7 (6.5)	9 (3.6)	0.078
Intestinal nodular lymphoid hyperplasia	4 (6.9)	4 (4.9)	0 (0)	8 (3.2)	0.034
Foreign body ingestion	6 (10.3)	1 (1.2)	0 (0)	7 (2.8)	< 0.0001
Esophageal varices	4 (6.9)	0 (0)	2 (1.9)	6 (2.4)	0.029
Esophageal ulcer	2 (3.4)	1 (1.2)	2 (1.9)	5 (2)	0.646
Meckel’s diverticulum	1 (1.7)	2 (2.4)	1 (0.9)	4 (1.6)	0.717
Mallory Weiss syndrome	1 (1.7)	2 (2.4)	0 (0)	3 (1.2)	0.291
Hemorrhoids	1 (1.7)	0 (0)	1 (0.9)	2 (0.8)	0.524
Duodenal varices	1 (1.7)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (0.4)	0.195
Colonic angiodysplasia	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (0.9)	1 (0.4)	0.518
CMPA	1 (1.7)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (0.4)	0.195

^aSome patients may have more than one cause.

^bPearson χ². Data are presented as number and percentage. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. CMPA: cow’s milk protein allergy.