A study by researchers in Japan concludes that Double Balloon Endoscopy™ (DBE) was very useful in the diagnosis of obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and had a therapeutic impact on the majority of patients.

PAEF is a rare but often life-threatening cause of massive gastrointestinal bleeding. PAEFs have a mortality rate of nearly 100% in the absence of surgical intervention, and in most case, the diagnosis is not established preoperatively.

It is widely accepted that urgent endoscopy for UGIB should be performed within 24 hour from the admission. However, within this period of time, it is still unclear whether it should be performed either very early – i.e. within 2 hour – or in a more delayed interval, such as after 6, 12 or 24 hour.

A class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) appear to be associated with bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Aorto-duodenal fistulae (ADF) are the most frequent aorto-enteric fistulae (80%) and the most frequent presenting sign of ADF is upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGI). A 59-year-old male patient, who underwent an aortic-bi-femoral bypass five years ago, was admitted to the Emergency Room after five days of persistent occlusive syndrome with dyspepsia and biliary vomiting.

Gastrointestinal bleeding can be fatal - something which is not known to many alcoholics. This was the conclusion reached by the Leipzig gastroenterologist Niels Teich and his colleagues, on the basis of a survey in the current edition of Deutsches Дrzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105[5]: 73-7).

Patients underreported their use of common but potentially dangerous over-the-counter pain medications known as NSAIDs, according to research presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.

Taking antidepressants together with painkillers can substantially increase the risk of bleeding from the stomach, according to new research by the University of East Anglia.

New research shows that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a group of drugs commonly used to treat depression, may double the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.

Heart surgeons don't have to choose between taking a coronary-bypass patient off the popular anti-clotting drug clopidogrel (Plavix) after off-pump heart bypass surgery or having the patient bleed excessively in the days following surgery, according to a new study by researchers at Jefferson Medical College.