Diagnostic Procedures in Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage

GASTROINTESTINAL hemorrhage is a common and serious problem, with average reported mortality rates of 10 to 20 per cent.1 Nowhere in medicine is cooperation between various disciplines more vital, requiring the involvement of the internist, surgeon, and radiologist from the outset. Whereas one might assume that early diagnosis would produce lower mortality rates, several controlled trials have shown no such advantage.2 , 3 These findings should not be misconstrued to suggest that early diagnosis is unimportant. Rather, they suggest that improvements in treatment have probably lagged behind diagnostic innovations.3 In this presentation, we evaluate current methods of establishing the site and diagnosing . . .