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. 1989 Dec;65(770):913–917. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.65.770.913

Audit of mortality in upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

B D Katschinski 1, R F Logan 1, J Davies 1, M J Langman 1
PMCID: PMC2429572  PMID: 2616431

Abstract

The outcome in 1017 patients with haematemesis and malaena referred to two major hospitals in Nottingham within a 2-year period has been prospectively evaluated. Ninety one (9%) patients died during the time period under consideration and all but four were found to have been over 60 years of age. There were 13 (14%) deaths following rebleeding, of whom 5 (5%) could have been potentially avoided by alterations in management. Some improvement of mortality might result from intensive-care facilities with better management of transfusions and earlier detection of rebleeding allowing earlier endoscopy or surgery. The majority of patients (81%), however, died from concomitant disease which was exacerbated by gastrointestinal haemorrhage or bleeding developed in patients with an already existing end-stage disease. These results show that a reduction of mortality in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding is hampered by the high number of poor-risk patients. The rise in the proportion of elderly patients with this disorder seems to continue.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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