BACKGROUND Little has been reported on mortality following admissions at weekends for many gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The aim was to establish whether GI disorders are susceptible to increased mortality following unscheduled admission on weekends compared with weekdays. METHODS Record linkage was undertaken of national administrative inpatient and mortality data for people in England an...

Upper gastrointestinal (GI) stents are increasingly being used to manage upper GI obstructions. Initially developed for palliative treatment of esophageal cancer, upper GI stents now play an emerging role in benign strictures of the upper GI tract. Because recurrent obstruction and stent-related complications are common, new modifications of stents have been implemented. Self-expandable metal s...

Nitrates, caffeine and alcohol can help relieve symptoms by relaxing lower oesophageal tone. Not all patients with GORD should undergo an OGD (should be considered if GI bleeding or symptoms of dysphagia occur). Oesophagitis is present in half of GORD patients. Oesophageal manometry or oesophageal motility study measures the strength of the lower oesophageal sphincter. This would rule out achal...

Effects of psychological situations on stomach and bowel have been known for centuries. Although functional gastrointestinal disorders are digestive system complaints, they are the disorders without structural (radiological, endoscopic) and biochemical abnormalities that explain chronic and recurrent gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms (1). Functional gastrointestinal disorders are common both in ge...

Background Brazil is a country of Portuguese colonization with massive numbers of immigrants and Portuguese descendants (25 millions). At least half of all Brazilian Y chromosomes are from Portuguese origin. Nevertheless, this population suffered miscegenation with native Indians and African descendants. African descendants Brazilians have 48% of non-African genes, probably from Portuguese asce...

Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of ultrasound for diagnosis of different gastro-intestinal surgical affections in dogs and cats. Design: Clinical study. Animals: 36 dogs and 20 cats. Procedures: Ultrasonography was performed using two real-time ultrasound machines. The entire abdomen was examined ultrasonographically while the animal was in dorsal recumbency. Percutaneous ultrasound-gu...