Acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

Abstract

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding is a significant worldwide medical problem. Despite modern measures for diagnosis and treatment, morbidity and mortality rates associated with gastrointestinal bleeding remain largely unchanged. Aggressive medical resuscitation while initiating an evaluation to localize the site of blood loss remains the key to successful management of acute gastrointestinal bleeding. A multidisciplinary approach with early involvement of a gastroenterologist, surgeon, and radiologist can be extremely helpful in the management of these patients. With the logical and direct approach to the evaluation of patients with gastrointestinal bleeding described in this article, most episodes can be managed successfully.