Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding affects around 50 to 150 people per 100,000 a year. It represents over 50% of cases of gastrointestinal bleeding. [2] A 1995 UK study found an estimated mortality risk of 11% in those admitted to hospital for gastrointestinal bleeding. [3]
An upper GI bleed is more common than lower GI bleed. [2] An upper GI bleed occurs in 50 to 150 per 100,000 adults per year. [8] A lower GI bleed is estimated to occur in 20 to 30 per 100,000 per year. [2] It results in about 300,000 hospital admissions a year in the United States. [1] Risk of death from a GI bleed is between 5% and 30%.
Gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE) is an uncommon cause of chronic gastrointestinal bleeding or iron deficiency anemia. [1] [2] The condition is associated with dilated small blood vessels in the gastric antrum, which is a distal part of the stomach. [1] The dilated vessels result in intestinal bleeding. [3]
Patients with chronic bleeding will usually present with anemia. The diagnosis of portal hypertensive gastropathy is usually made on endoscopy. The usual appearance of portal hypertensive gastropathy on endoscopy is a mosaic-like or reticular pattern in the mucosa. Red spots may or may not be present.
When present, symptoms usually relate to painless bleeding, with vomiting blood (hematemesis) and/or black stools . [3] Less often, Dieulafoy's lesions may cause rectal bleeding (hematochezia), or rarely, iron deficiency anemia. Usually, there are no gastrointestinal symptoms that precede the bleeding (abdominal pain, nausea, etc.).
A feeling of pressure and squeezing in the chest is a serious indication that medical care is essential because chest pain and discomfort is one of the most common symptoms of heart attack in men.
Sometimes the lesions are found when endoscopy is done for other hernia symptoms than anemia such as heartburn, regurgitation, swallowing difficulty, pain or distention. [9] When a person with iron deficiency anemia is found to have a large hernia and Cameron lesions on endoscopy, this usually explains the blood loss.
It is a common cause of otherwise unexplained gastrointestinal bleeding and anemia. Lesions are often multiple, and frequently involve the cecum or ascending colon, although they can occur at other places. Treatment may be with colonoscopic interventions, angiography and embolization, medication, or occasionally surgery.