Surgery | Common Surgical Conditions | General Surgery Gastrointestinal Haemorrhage Upper

General Surgery: Gastrointestinal Haemorrhage - Upper
Session Overview
Description
Upper gastro-intestinal bleeding is a common and sometimes life threatening problem. This session discusses the symptoms, causes, resuscitation, scoring and further management of these patients.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Identify patients presenting with acute upper GI bleeding and describe causes of acute upper GI bleeding
• Discuss initial resuscitation and management
• Identify patients at high risk of re-bleeding and death
• Be aware of further specialist management
• Discuss causes and investigations of patients with chronic upper GI bleeding

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should (complete):

• Revise the anatomy of the upper GI tract

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a common gastrointestinal emergency with an in-hospital mortality rate of around 10%.

The incidence of acute UGIB requiring hospitalization in the UK is about 87 per 100,000 per year [1].

Elderly patients, those with chronic medical problems and those who have UGIB while hospitalized for another medical/surgical complaints have a higher mortality rate.