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Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is gastrointestinal bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract, commonly defined as bleeding arising from the esophagus, stomach, or duodenum. Blood may be observed in vomit or in altered form as black stool. Depending on the amount of the blood loss, symptoms may include shock.
Blood in stool looks different depending on how early it enters the digestive tract—and thus how much digestive action it has been exposed to—and how much there is. The term can refer either to melena, with a black appearance, typically originating from upper gastrointestinal bleeding; or to hematochezia, with a red color, typically originating from lower gastrointestinal bleeding. [6]
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%.
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.).
Mallory–Weiss syndrome is a condition where high intra-abdominal pressures causes laceration and bleeding of the mucosa called Mallory-Weiss tears. [1] Additionally, Mallory–Weiss syndrome is one of the most common causes of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding, counting of around 1-15% of all cases in adults and less than 5% in children.
These evaluations may detect gastric varices that are asymptomatic. When gastric varices are symptomatic, however, they usually present acutely and dramatically with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The symptoms can include vomiting blood, melena (passing black, tarry stools); or passing maroon stools or frank blood in the stools. Many people ...
Gastric volvulus causes nausea, vomiting, and pain in the upper abdomen. The Borchardt triad is a group of symptoms that help doctors to identify gastric volvulus. The symptoms are intractable retching, pain in the upper abdomen and inability to pass nasogastric tube into the stomach.
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding then is reported, and is very commonly represented in elderly patients. [4] Black or bloody stools and hematemesis account for over three quarters of the case presentations. Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and unstable vital signs are common.