Stress ulceration: prevalence, pathology and association with adverse outcomes

So-called 'stress-related mucosal damage' (SRMD) is the broad term used to describe the spectrum of pathology attributed to the acute, erosive, inflammatory insult to the upper gastrointestinal tract associated with critical illness [ 1 ]. SRMD represents a continuum from asymptomatic superficial lesions found incidentally during endoscopy, occult gastrointestinal bleeding causing anemia, overt gastrointestinal bleeding and clinically significant gastrointestinal bleeding.