Gastrointestinal bleeding in cases of ruptured cerebral aneurysms

Among 1,000 cases of patients undergoing direct surgery on cerebral aneurysms, two, showed clear signs of preoperative, and 19 cases showed postoperative gastrointestinal bleeding. We have made a clinical analysis of various aspects of the 19 cases in which the bleeding developed postoperatively. 1. Gastrointestinal bleeding was most frequent postoperatively in cases of AComA aneurysms (4.3%) and ICA aneurysms (2.0%), and less common in MCA and ACA aneurysm cases. 2. Gastrointestinal bleeding was most frequently seen in those cases operated on between the third and seventh days after the last subarachnoid haemorrhage (8.9%) and was more common in cases with a relatively poor preoperative grade. 3. The development of such bleeding in cases with a good preoperative grade was due to problems with the surgical operation in most cases, although the influence of vasospasm must not be ignored. The development of bleeding in cases with a poor preoperative grade is thought to be due primarily to vasospasm and transitory brain damage to the hypothalamus and the orbital portion of the anterior lobe due to a haematoma caused by aneurysm rupture. 4. First, the location of gastrointestinal bleeding should be determined endoscopically and, if haemostasis is not achieved by coagulation, then the desirability of surgery should be considered early. Abdominal surgery may be performed.