Definition and Characteristics
Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is the most common emergency for gastroenterologists, and it almost always requires hospitalization. Nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NUGB) is clinically characterized by hematemesis (vomiting blood or coffee ground material), melena (black, tarry stool i.e., melena), coffee ground particles from naso-gastric lavage, and rarely with hematochezia (red or maroon blood per rectum). Sometimes bleeding can be occult and the only manifestation could be a positive fecal occult blood test or a secondary sign, such as hypotension, asthenia, iron deficiency anemia or shock (history of syncope or systolic blood pressure < 100 mm Hg and pulse rate > 100 beats/min).
Prevalence
Estimated incidence for acute upper GI bleeding is about 100 per 100,000 adults per year and is more frequent in the elderly or middle age with male:female ratio more than 2:1. Mortality during admission for acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage is...
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Senzolo, M., Piovesana, E., Okolicsanyi, L., Burroughs, A.K. (2009). Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding. In: Lang, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29676-8_677
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29676-8_677
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-67136-7
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