Managing Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding from Ulcers

An American College of Gastroenterology guideline addresses risk stratification, endoscopic intervention, proton-pump inhibitors, and transfusions.

Sponsoring Organization: American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)

Background

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding is the most common gastrointestinal cause of hospitalization in the U.S. To reconcile multiple recently published guidelines, ACG-sponsored reviewers assessed primary studies and made recommendations according to the strength of the supporting evidence. They addressed only bleeding from peptic ulcers.

Key Points

Strong recommendations, backed by moderate- or high-quality evidence:

Endoscopic therapy should be performed for ulcers with active bleeding or a nonbleeding visible vessel.
High-dose proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy should be given continuously (intravenously) or intermittently (intravenously or orally) for 3 days after…

Reviewing Author

David J. Bjorkman, MD, MSPH (HSA), SM (Epid.)

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose