Upper gastrointestinal bleeding classification
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Ganti M.B.B.S. [2]
Overview
According to the American Gastroenterological Association, upper GI bleeding can be classified based on the rate of blood loss into overt(acute), occult or obscure(chronic) forms.
Classification
According to the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), upper gastrointestinal bleeding can be classified based on the rate of blood loss into overt(acute), occult or obscure(chronic) forms.[1][2][3][4]
- Overt GI bleeding: Overt GI bleeding is defined as acute bleeding which is visible and can present in the form of hematemesis, “coffee-ground” emesis, melena, or hematochezia.
- Occult or chronic GI bleeding: Occult GI bleeding is defined as a microscopic hemorrhage which can present as hemoccult-positive stools with or without iron deficiency anemia. It is the initial presentation in patients with no evidence of visible blood loss and is positive on fecal occult blood test(FOBT).
- Obscure GI bleeding: Obscure GI bleeding is defined as recurrent bleeding in which a source is not identified after upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. It can be either overt or occult.
| Upper GI bleeding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Based on blood loss | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overt | Occult | Obscure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hematemesis Coffee-ground emesis Melena Hematochezia | Microscopic hemorrhage Heme-occult positive stools | Source is not identified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ “Non-variceal upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage: guidelines”. Gut. 51 Suppl 4: iv1–6. 2002. PMC 1867732. PMID 12208839.
- ↑ Bull-Henry K, Al-Kawas FH (2013). “Evaluation of occult gastrointestinal bleeding”. Am Fam Physician. 87 (6): 430–6. PMID 23547576.
- ↑ Raju GS, Gerson L, Das A, Lewis B (2007). “American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute medical position statement on obscure gastrointestinal bleeding”. Gastroenterology. 133 (5): 1694–6. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2007.06.008. PMID 17983811.
- ↑ Rockey DC (1999). “Occult gastrointestinal bleeding”. N. Engl. J. Med. 341 (1): 38–46. doi:10.1056/NEJM199907013410107. PMID 10387941.
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