[Hemobilia in the differential diagnosis of gastrointestinal hemorrhage]

Through the analysis of his own material and cases from the literature available to him, the author draws attention to the problem of gastrointestinal bleedings whose source is in the hepato-biliar organs. They are not rare as was earlier presumed, because of the small number diagnosed cases; he stresses that this bleeding can be occult with undefined anemias, which is of importance for the early diagnosis, or profuse bleeding representing an indication for emergency surgery, as in the four cases described. The initial signs appear prior, to the manifested bleeding and they are of importance for the early diagnosis indicating the need for early surgical treatment. The author shows etiopathogenesis and classification of haemobilia, particularly the diagnostic and therapeutic problems and concludes that the number of wrongly interpreted cases is smaller because of greater interest in haemobilia and more frequent publications about it.