Have you come across a child with hematemesis? Is it hard to distinguish whether it is epistaxis or upper gastrointestinal bleeding? The following article describes an approach to such patients. Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleeding is a common gastroenterological problem which requires hospitalization.
UGI bleeding constitutes almost 20 % of all GI bleeding incidents. The patient with UGI bleeding is commonly presented with hematemesis (vomiting red-blood or a coffee ground-like material). Some of the most important independent associated risk factors for bleeding include: A high Pediatric Risk Mortality Score Coagulopathy Pneumonia Multiple trauma Some of the most common causes of UGI in pediatric patients include: gastric and duodenal ulcers esophagitis, gastritis varices variceal bleeding (predominant in India) conditions associated with structural abnormalities of blood vessels…
