[Acute bleeding into the GI tract--A surgical diagnosis?]

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Internal Medicine
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) necessitates intensive care, particularly for patients on antithrombotic therapy.
• While endoscopic hemostasis has low mortality, patient numbers and resource utilization are rising.
• The increasing prevalence of antithrombotic use complicates GIB management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the trend of acute GIB in relation to antithrombotic therapy use.
• To identify risk factors and current management practices for GIB patients.
• To evaluate the need for gastroprotection in patients on antithrombotic agents.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 251 patients hospitalized for acute GIB over 24 months.
• Focus on antithrombotic therapy (antiplatelet, anticoagulant, or combination) as a key factor.
• Assessment of gastroprotection use among the studied patient cohort.

Main Results:

• 107 out of 251 patients (42.6%) were on some form of antithrombotic therapy.
• No patients receiving antithrombotic therapy were concurrently using gastroprotection.
• A significant proportion of acute GIB cases involved patients on antithrombotic medications.

Conclusions:

• The incidence of acute GIB is high and increasing, particularly in patients using antithrombotic therapies.
• A critical gap exists in gastroprotection provision for these high-risk patients, despite established guidelines.
• Adherence to gastroprotection guidelines could mitigate the rising trend of antithrombotic-associated GIB.