Outcomes and Role of Urgent Endoscopy in High-Risk Patients With Acute Nonvariceal Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We investigated clinical outcomes in high-risk patients with acute nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB), and determined if urgent endoscopy is effective. METHODS: Consecutive patients with a Glasgow-Blatchford score greater than 7 who underwent endoscopy for acute nonvariceal UGIB at the emergency department from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2014, were included. Urgent (<6 h) and elective (6-48 h) endoscopies were defined according to the time to endoscopy after the initial presentation. The primary outcomes were mortality and rebleeding within 28 days of admission. RESULTS: Among 961 patients, 571 patients underwent urgent endoscopy. The 28-day mortality rate was 2.5%, and the rebleeding rate was 10.4%. There were significant differences in mortality rate (1.6% vs 3.8%), the number of transfused packed red blood cells (2.6 ± 2.5 vs 2.3 ± 2.1 packs), need for intervention (69.5% vs 53.5%), and embolization (2.8% vs 0.5%), but no differences in rebleeding, intensive care unit admission, vasopressor use, and length of stay between the urgent and elective endoscopy groups. Mortality was associated with malignancy (odds ratio [OR], 3.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33-9.62), cirrhosis (OR, 4.67; 95% CI, 1.85-11.76), urgent endoscopy (OR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.14-0.95), failed primary endoscopic treatment (OR, 15.03; 95% CI, 4.63-48.82), and rebleeding (OR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.03-7.45). Rebleeding was associated with Forrest I ulcers (OR, 7.67; 95% CI, 2.71-21.69), Forrest II ulcers (OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.51-3.60), and coagulopathy (OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.51-3.60). CONCLUSIONS: Urgent endoscopy was an independent predictor of lower mortality rate but was not associated with rebleeding in high-risk patients with acute nonvariceal UGIB.

Characteristics of computed tomography in hemodynamically unstable blunt trauma patients: Experience at a tertiary care center.

Emergent exploratory laparotomy is recommended for hemodynamically unstable blunt trauma patients suspected of having hemoperitoneum. However, given the unreliability of ultrasonography and rapid scan speed of computed tomography (CT), CT might help clinicians provide accurate information even in hemodynamically unstable trauma patients. This observational study aimed to describe the bleeding site and hospital course of severe blunt trauma patients with hemoperitoneum diagnosed by CT scan.We enrolled all consecutive adult blunt trauma patients (≥18 years old) who underwent whole-body CT before operation between February 2012 and October 2016. Patients with hemoperitoneum on CT images were included and categorized into hemodynamically stable and unstable (persistent hypotension despite fluid resuscitation) groups.Among 1723 severe blunt trauma patients, 136 patients with hemoperitoneum were included. Of these, 98 (72.1%) patients had documented intraperitoneal injury, and the liver (60.2%) was most frequently damaged site, followed by spleen (23.5%) and mesentery (23.5%). The rate of intraperitoneal organ injury did not differ between hemodynamically stable (n = 107) and unstable (n = 29) groups (69.2% vs 82.8%, P = .15), while the documented active internal bleeding was high in the unstable group (29.9% vs 69.0%, P < .001). In the unstable group, 14 (48.3%) patients underwent emergent operation, while 3 patients underwent embolization, and the others were treated in a conservative manner.Even in hemodynamically unstable hemoperitoneum patients, 17.2% had no documented intraperitoneal injury and over half of the patients were treated without emergent operation.