Gastrointestinal bleeding

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Intussusception - X-ray

Volvulus - X-ray

Overview

Treatment

Gastrointestinal bleeding

Alternative Names:

Lower GI bleeding; GI bleeding; Upper GI bleeding
Home Care:

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There are home stool tests for microscopic blood that may be recommended for people with anemia or for colon cancer screening.

Call your health care provider if:

You have black, tarry stools (this may be a sign of upper GI bleeding).
You have blood in your stool.
You vomit blood or you vomit material that looks like coffee grounds.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

GI bleeding can be an emergency condition requiring immediate medical attention. Intravenous fluids and medications, blood transfusions, drainage of the stomach contentsthrough a nasogastric (NG) tube, and other measures may be required.

Once the condition is stable, a physical examination, including a detailed abdominal examination, will be performed.

Medical history questions to document GI bleeding in detail may include:

When did it start?
Is it off-and-on or does it continue?
What did you notice?
Were there black, tarry stools or was there obvious blood in the stools?
Were you vomiting blood?
Did you vomit material that looks like coffee grounds?
Do you have a history of peptic ulcer or duodenal ulcer?
Have you ever had symptoms like this before?
What other symptoms do you have?
Did you notice anything that you think may have caused the bleeding?

GI bleeding is diagnosed by a doctor -- you may or may not have been aware of its presence.

Diagnostic tests may include:

CBC, clotting tests (PT, PTT, INR), platelet count, and other laboratory tests
Abdominal x-ray
Abdominal CT scan
EGD
Colonoscopy
Sigmoidoscopy
Small bowel enteroscopy
Bleeding scan (tagged red blood cell scan)
Angiography
Abdominal MRI scan
Capsule endoscopy (camera pill that is swallowed to look at the small intestine)