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Despite advances in prevention and treatment, acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) remains a common cause of hospitalization. To evaluate trends in the incidence of hospitalization and in outcomes, investigators reviewed the Canadian Institute for Health Information database and identified all patients who were hospitalized between 1993 and 2003 with primary diagnoses of acute nonvariceal UGIB. In one set of analyses, diagnosis was based on ICD-9 and -10 codes that are specific for acute nonvariceal UGIB. In another set of analyses, the definition was expanded to include all possibly relevant codes. Hospitalization rates were calculated based on annual population estimates for Canada. The need for surgery was determined …