Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a relatively common, potentially life-threatening medical emergency responsible for more than 300,000 hospital admissions and about 30,000 deaths per annum in America. The initial assessment focuses on bleeding activity, bleeding severity, hemodynamic compromise from the bleeding, and differentiating upper from lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The initia...

Gastrointestinal mucormycosis is an uncommon opportunistic fungal infection, often seen in immunocompromised patients. Stomach is the most common site involved in gastrointestinal mucormycosis, followed by colon and ileum [1]. Early diagnosis is based on the histological picture, since culture is difficult. Culture is positive in only 30% of surgical specimens and only 52% of autopsy cases [2]....

Inflammatory cloacogenic polyp is a rare type of inflammatory anorectal lesion in which mucosal prolapse plays a pathogenetic role. It has been suggested that the aetiology may be the same as that of solitary rectal ulcer syndrome, inflammatory cap and myoglandular polyps (1,2). Inflammatory cloacogenic polyp can be associated with conditions such as Crohn’s disease, malabsorption syndromes, di...

Endoscopic hemostasis is difficult to obtain in diffuse bleeding from broad lesions in the colon. Hemospray (Cook Medical, Limerick, Ireland) is a mineral-based granular powder that absorbs water and activates the clotting cascade [1]. It is approved for nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding [2] but, other than in Canada, it is not approved for use in the lower gastrointestinal tract. In ...

Diverticular hemorrhage is the most common reason for lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) with substantial cost of hospitalization and a median length of hospital stay of 3 days. Bleeding usually is self-limited in 70-80% of cases but early rebleeding is not an uncommon problem that can be reduced with proper endoscopic therapies. Colonoscopy is recommended as first-line diagnostic and thera...

Beketaev I, et al. BMJ Case Rep 2017. doi:10.1136/bcr-2017-223601 Description An 87-year-old woman presented to an outside hospital with a complaint of bright red blood per rectum (BRBPR), where her haemoglobin was found to be 4.6 g/dL. An extensive gastrointestinal (GI) work was performed, including oesophagogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy and a video capsule endoscopy, followed by a superior ...

A cute lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) is distinct clinically from upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage in epidemiology, prognosis, management, and outcome. LGIB encompasses a wide clinical spectrum ranging from trivial hematochezia to massive hemorrhage with shock, requiring emergency hospitalization. The spectrum of LGIB is broad. It may be acute or chronic, obvious or occult. This articl...

Even if lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) can present as trivial haematochezia, massive hemorrhage with shock may occur. Acute massive LGIB is defined as bleeding of recent duration that originates beyond the ligament of Treitz and encompasses: passage of a large volume of red or maroon blood through the rectum, haemodynamic instability and shock, initial decrease in haematocrit level of 6...

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) is defined as acute or chronic abnormal blood loss distal to the ligament of Treitz. The incidence of LGIB is only one fifth of that of the upper gastrointestinal tract and is estimated to be 21 to 27 cases per 100,000 adults per year. Acute bleeding is arbitrarily defined as bleeding of <3 days' duration resulting in instability of vital signs, anemia, an...