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Background: Erythromycin is a potent stimulator of gastrointestinal motility. Recent studies have examined the use of intravenous erythromycin to clear the stomach of blood before oesophago-gastroduodenoscopy (EGD) for acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage (UGIH). These studies have shown clinical effectiveness., Aim: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this intervention., Methods: We sought to determine the cost-effectiveness of erythromycin before EGD from the payer's perspective. We found three relevant studies of erythromycin and used these data for the analysis. We obtained costs for intravenous erythromycin and charges for peptic ulcer hospitalization, EGD, surgery, and angiographic embolization. Complication rates were also incorporated from the literature. We implemented a model of health-related quality of life to measure the impact of the intervention. We created a decision-analysis tree and performed a probabilistic sensitivity analysis., Results: A strategy of erythromycin prior to EGD resulted in a cost-effective outcome in a majority of trials using willingness-to-pay figures of USD 0, USD 50,000 and USD 100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY)., Conclusion: Because of the implications for cost saving and increase in QALY, we would recommend giving erythromycin prior to EGD for UGIH.

Background We analysed nationwide in-patient data from 2002 to 2007 to determine significant demographic variables when predicting mortality and receipt of prompt oesophagogastroduodenoscopy ( OGD) for acute variceal haemorrhage ( AVH) and nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage ( NVUGIH). Aim To study the effects of demographic variables in predicting time to endoscopy and mortality in AVH and NVUGIH. Methods We analysed the United States' Nationwide Inpatient Sample ( NIS), for risk factors for mortality and receipt of OGD within 1 day of admission for upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Results Risk factors for increased mortality in AVH included: age >60, men, African Americans, comorbidities, insurance type and delayed OGD. Risk factors for increased mortality in NVUGIH were similar to AVH, except race which was not significant. After correction for factors such as insurance type, comorbidity, hospital location and time to endoscopy, this increased risk of mortality persisted, suggesting that none of these factors was the primary cause of the observed differences. For AVH, OGD within 1 day of admission was more likely in men, White Americans, patients aged 18-40 years, privately insured and those with no comorbidities. OGD within 1 day of admission in NVUGIH was more likely in men, patients age 40-60, Whites, Hispanics, privately insured and those with a single comorbidity. Conclusions In multivariate analysis, in-patient mortality in AVH and NVUGIH increased with age, comorbidity, male gender, and delayed time to endoscopy. Young, healthier men were most likely to receive OGD within 1 day of admission. African Americans were less likely to receive OGD within 1 day of admission and had increased mortality in cases of AVH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]