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Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage on the Intensive Care Unit

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Intensive Care Medicine

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Abstract

Gastrointestinal bleeding in the critical care environment is a relatively common clinical event with an incidence of approximately 100/100,000 population per year in both the UK and the USA [1, 2]. Of these bleeding events, 14% occur in patients already hospitalized. Gastrointestinal bleeding can be the primary reason for admission or can develop as a secondary co-morbid factor. Patients with this complication can have an increased length of stay on the intensive care unit (ICU) and up to a four-fold rise in mortality [3]. This chapter will describe the nature of gastrointestinal bleeding in critical care, the etiologies and risk factors that may predispose to gastrointestinal bleeding, and the variety of therapeutic options available to the clinician. Upper gastrointestinal stress-related mucosal disease, variceal hemorrhage, and lower gastrointestinal bleeding will be considered separately.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care, St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London, SW17 0QT, UK

    S. J. Thomson

  2. Department of Gastroenterology, St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London, SW17 0QT, UK

    M. L. Cowan & T. M. Rahman

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  1. S. J. Thomson
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  2. M. L. Cowan
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  3. T. M. Rahman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital, Université libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent MD, PhD, FCCM, FCCP (Head) (Head)

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Thomson, S.J., Cowan, M.L., Rahman, T.M. (2008). Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage on the Intensive Care Unit. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-77383-4_69

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-77383-4_69

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-77382-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-77383-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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