How to treat upper gastrointestinal bleeding?

Written by Wang Li Bing

Intensive Care Medicine Department

Updated on September 15, 2024

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After gastrointestinal bleeding, the patient should be kept in a recumbent position to rest and ensure that the airway is clear to avoid aspiration of blood due to vomiting. Close monitoring of the patient's vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, is necessary. It is important to actively replenish blood volume, correct hypovolemic shock, and administer medications for hemostasis. Endoscopic hemostasis with a gastroscope can also be used. If conservative drug treatment is not effective, surgical treatment may be considered. Emergency treatment is essential after gastrointestinal bleeding, as delays can be life-threatening.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei

Pulmonology

1min

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Why does pulmonary heart disease cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding?

Cor pulmonale is a very common type of heart disease in the clinic, mainly caused by various etiologies leading to pulmonary arterial hypertension, which results in right ventricular hypertrophy. Typically, patients with this disease have underlying pulmonary and cardiac lesions, and it mainly causes symptoms of varying degrees, such as fever, cough, expectoration, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and even difficulty breathing. Cor pulmonale is a complex disease, and if not managed properly in clinical practice, it can lead to many complications, especially respiratory failure and heart failure. This can lead to insufficient blood and oxygen supply, causing various degrees of increased pressure in the gastric vessels or vascular spasms due to hypoxia, all of which can cause patients to experience upper gastrointestinal bleeding during severe coughing, or when consuming certain foods.

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Written by Wang Li Bing

Intensive Care Medicine Department

51sec

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Which department should I go to for upper gastrointestinal bleeding?

The upper gastrointestinal system primarily refers to bleeding from the digestive system above the Treitz ligament. Therefore, if there is acute massive bleeding in the digestive tract, patients may present with symptoms such as vomiting blood and black stools. If the bleeding is significant and blood volume rapidly decreases, it can cause acute peripheral circulatory disorders, and may even be life-threatening. The causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding include long-standing conditions like peptic ulcers, rupture of esophagogastric varices, acute erosive hemorrhagic gastritis, and stomach cancer, among others. If upper gastrointestinal bleeding occurs, patients should actively seek medical attention at major hospitals' gastroenterology departments, undergo relevant examinations, and receive prompt treatment.

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Written by Jiang Guo Ming

Gastroenterology

1min 2sec

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Is upper gastrointestinal bleeding easy to treat?

I can only say that most upper gastrointestinal bleeding can be treated. Common issues such as gastric and duodenal ulcers, complex ulcers, and bleeding caused by acute gastric mucosal lesions can be managed with intravenous or oral administration of proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole, lansoprazole, etc., combined with hemostatic drugs and dietary control, often achieving satisfactory therapeutic effects. Cases like bleeding from esophagogastric varices due to liver cirrhosis may require endoscopic sclerotherapy or banding, and sometimes surgery, but recurrent bleeding can occur. Bleeding caused by gastrointestinal tumors requires treatment of the primary disease and often has a poor prognosis. Additionally, bleeding from the gastroduodenal artery, which is severe and urgent, can be addressed with surgical intervention if treatments like endoscopic electrocoagulation are ineffective.

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Written by Zhu Dan Hua

Gastroenterology

1min 34sec

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What medicine is used to stop bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract?

Pharmacological treatment for upper gastrointestinal bleeding may include aggressive fluid resuscitation to improve symptoms of hypovolemia, transfusion of red blood cells when necessary to correct anemia, and the use of acid-suppressive and gastroprotective medications to prevent further bleeding. Common causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding include gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, and even vascular anomalies. Therefore, in the early stages, it is advisable to choose acid-suppressive and gastroprotective medications to treat common causes such as gastric ulcers and gastritis, which lead to bleeding. The main symptoms of upper gastrointestinal bleeding are vomiting blood or bleeding from the bowels. In severe cases, the patient may also experience dizziness and fatigue due to low blood volume. For such patients, once the condition stabilizes, it is important to conduct routine blood tests, electrocardiography, and gastroscopy to identify the specific cause of the bleeding. Different causes require different treatment approaches. If the bleeding is suspected to be caused by a tumor, pharmacological treatment may not be very effective, and surgical intervention might be more appropriate. (The use of medications should be under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Wu Hai Wu

Gastroenterology

54sec

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Mild upper gastrointestinal bleeding symptoms

Symptoms of mild upper gastrointestinal bleeding mainly include dizziness, fatigue, poor appetite, etc., and there may also be cases of passing black stools. Once a patient experiences black stools accompanied by symptoms such as dizziness and fatigue, upper gastrointestinal bleeding should be considered. It is advisable to visit the gastroenterology department of a reputable hospital as soon as possible to undergo a gastroscopy to promptly determine the cause of the condition. Depending on the different causes, appropriate and active treatment measures should be taken. Additionally, endoscopic hemostasis treatment can also be considered. Patients with mild upper gastrointestinal bleeding should also be extra cautious, as delayed treatment may lead to the possibility of severe upper gastrointestinal bleeding.