Abstract
Introduction: Bleeding from the digestive tract is a serious and potentially fatal problem that is responsible for more than 1,000,000 hospital admissions in the US every year. Gastrointestinal bleeding is considered to be one of the most common causes of mortality and long-term complications in the emergency department. Aim of work: In this paper, we will review the most recent evidence emergency management of acute bleeding. Methodology: We did a systematic search for the management of Gastrointestinal Bleeding in the emergency department using PubMed search engine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and Google Scholar search engine (https://scholar.google.com). Our search also looked for presentation, and treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding. All relevant studies were retrieved and discussed. We only included full articles. Conclusions: Acute gastrointestinal bleeding is considered to be one of the most commonly encountered presentations in the emergency departments that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, physicians should be properly trained for the detection and management of gastrointestinal bleeding to decrease the risk of developing long term complications. Generally, patients who present with a gastrointestinal bleeding are categorized into high or low risk patients according to their risk of mortality or developing severe complications from the bleeding. The first most important step in the management of a patients with suspected gastrointestinal bleeding is the insertion of two large IV cannulas. In severe bleeding, immediate blood transfusions may be required to compensate for the lost blood. Endoscope remains to be the most important investigation that provides both diagnosis and possible therapy in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.