Objective  To summarize the clinical characteristics and treatment experience of gastric primary lymphoma with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding as the primary manifestation, and to provide support for clinical treatment.

  Methods  Information on gastric primary lymphoma patients admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2010 and March 2021 for acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding was retrospectively collected. Data on endoscopic morphology, tumor staging, pathology typing, severity of bleeding, risks of rebleeding, treatment and inhospital prognosis were documented and analyzed.

  Results  A total of 25 patients with a mean age of 57.2 years were included in the study, all of whom presented clinically with melena (100%), 9 (36%) had hematemesis, and 6 (24%) was accompanied with abdominal pain. Twenty, or 80%, of the gastric lymphoma patients with bleeding as the primary manifestation showed endoscopically a tumor-forming phenotype (Yao Classification), mostly involving the middle and lower parts of the gastric body (44% and 32%, respectively). After conservative treatment with medication, rebleeding occurred in 4 patients during hospitalization. One of them required endoscopic hemostasis, two required surgical resection to stop the bleeding, and one decided not to undergo any further treatment. Only one patient died from infection and no death resulted directly from severe bleeding.

  Conclusion  Gastric primary lymphoma presenting acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding as the sole clinical manifestation rarely occurs, but when the condition does occur, it shows a wide range of endoscopic involvement. It has a higher risk of rebleeding, and endoscopic or surgical treatment may be attempted when conservative medication treatment for acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding fails.