Conservative treatment of gastrointestinal haemorrhage.
The Gastroenterology Unit of the Royal Newcastle Hospital treats all acute bleeders in the hospital and has followed a policy of conservative blood transfusion and early surgery directed to gastric ulcer upon rebleeding. A prospective study of 201 consecutive episodes is presented and compared with recent series treated more conventionally. Our patients were transfused less, and operated upon less often with a lower mortality rate in those with chronic peptic ulcers. The data suggest that a reversion to the less aggressive treatment policies of several decades ago, combined with early limited surgery directed to endoscopically proven gastric ulcer is worthy of trial.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010438:Peptic Ulcer Hemorrhage / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000150:complications