Therapeutic and prophylactic transcatheter therapy in patients with massive arterial upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage

Summary

Patients with massive upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage can present difficult problems of diagnosis and management. In some cases the bleeding site may be localized endoscopically but in many other patients the precise localization requires selective angiographic studies. When a lesion responsible for bleeding is identified, modern embolization techniques or treatment with intra-arterial vasopressin often results in effective and rapid control of haemorrhage. In selected patients in whom the source of bleeding is not demonstrated during angiography, prophylactic embolization of the left gastric artery can make a significant contribution to clinical management.

Keywords:

• gastrointestinal haemorrhage
• transcatheter therapy