Loading...
Overt gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) usually prompts early diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Risk factors and preventive therapies for overt upper GIB (UGIB) are well established. Occult GIB has a more insidious course and a host of potential causes.
Investigators in Scotland compared the incidence and characteristics of overt UGIB versus occult GIB in one hospital serving a well-defined area of Scotland. They analyzed individual-level clinical data from 869 patients with overt UGIB and 100 randomly selected patients with occult UGIB from the years 2007, 2010, and 2012 and used regional population data from 2007 to 2012. Results were as follows:
Between 2007 and 2012, the incidence of overt UGIB decreased from 140 to 88 per 100,000 p…