Gastrointestinal bleeding and blood transfusion in the elderly in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
The incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) increases with age and blood transfusion is frequently given for the management of GIB. In this report, we summarized our data of the patients with GIB and discussed the relationship between blood transfusion and age in patients with GIB.


METHODS
The patients were divided into two groups according to age, following elderly (≥75 years old) and younger (<75 years old) group. The causes and clinical outcome (blood transfusions, management) of each group were compared.


RESULTS
One-hundred and twenty patients with GIB were hospitalized (59 men, 61 women) with a mean age of 72.0±15.8 years (range 16-96 years old). Thirty-one patients (25.8%) received blood transfusion. The mean pre-transfusion hemoglobin was 6.4±1.2g/dL (elderly 6.3±1.4, younger 6.6±1.0g/dL) and the mean amount of blood transfusion was 2.8±1.6U (elderly 3.2±1.8, younger 2.3±0.9U). The elderly patients using antithrombotic drugs need greater amounts of blood transfusion than younger patients using antithrombotic drugs. The hemoglobin level of the elder patients without antithrombotic drugs was significantly lower than that of younger patients without antithrombotic drugs.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that our blood transfusion strategy seems to be in tolerance level with restrictive blood transfusion strategy.
Department of Surgery, Shin-Nakama Hospital, Nakama, Japan. taketoshisuehiro2004@yahoo.co.jp
Taketoshi
T
Suehiro
Yoichi
Y
Yakeishi
Fumitaka
F
Sakai
Koichi
K
Matsuzaki
Kensaku
K
Sanefuji
Tsuyoshi
T
Toyokawa
Kei
K
Shioshita
Yumi
Y
Sugie
Yasuyuki
Y
Okudaira
Tadashi
T
Kano
Hiroyuki
H
Mine
Keiko
K
Suetsugu
Fuminaga
F
Suetsugu
Naohisa
N
Suehiro
Kikuo
K
Suhiro
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D016558:Hemostasis, Endoscopic; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000150:complications; D055815:Young Adult
D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D006454:Hemoglobins