title: Emergency diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal bleeding by fiberoptic endoscopy.
abstract: Emergency esophagogastroduodenoscopy has been performed in 192 consecutive patients admitted with massive gastrointestinal bleeding. Accurate endoscopic diagnosis was made in 184 or 96%; 58 patients underwent emergency operations to control bleeding with an overall operative mortality of 26%. Excluding 16 patients who underwent emergency portacaval shunting, the operative mortality was 7%. In 6 patients, the bleeding was controlled by endoscopic electrocoagulation. There were no complications. Emergency endoscopy should be done routinely as the primary diagnostic approach in the diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003082:Colectomy; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000175:diagnosis; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology; D005756:Gastritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005773:Gastroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008309:Mallory-Weiss Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D010438:Peptic Ulcer Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis