ABC of the upper gastrointestinal tract: Upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage

摘要

Acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage accounts for about 2500 hospital admissions each year in the United Kingdom. The annual incidence varies from 47 to 116 per 100 000 of the population and is higher in socioeconomically deprived areas. Although hospital mortality has not improved over 50 years and remains at about 10%, older patients who have advanced cardiovascular, respiratory, or cerebrovascular disease that puts them at increased risk of death now comprise a much higher proportion of cases. Many patients' bleeding is associated with use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but there is no evidence that prognosis is worse in patients who are taking these drugs man in those who are not.