The most common causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding
Disease description:
Recently, I have been experiencing frequent stomach pain. When I had a bowel movement, there was blood present, which was really alarming. I'm very concerned about my health. After an examination, I was diagnosed with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. I would like to ask, what is the most common cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding?
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Shen Yonghua
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the common clinical emergencies, and its most frequent causes include the following:
1. Peptic ulcer: Gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers are among the most common causes. Ulcerative lesions damage the mucosa of the stomach or duodenum, leading to rupture and bleeding of blood vessels.
2. Rupture of esophageal-gastric varices: This condition mostly occurs in patients with cirrhosis, accounting for about 25% of cases of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Cirrhosis leads to portal hypertension, which subsequently causes the formation of esophageal-gastric varices. Once these varices rupture, the resulting bleeding is often massive and life-threatening.
3. Acute gastric mucosal lesions and stress ulcers: These commonly occur in patients with severe illness, trauma, or those taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These factors can damage the gastric mucosal barrier, leading to bleeding.
4. Mallory-Weiss syndrome: Typically associated with severe vomiting, this condition causes mucosal tears and subsequent bleeding at the gastroesophageal junction.
5. Other factors: Such as hemobilia (bleeding from the biliary tract) or pancreatic diseases affecting the duodenum, which may also lead to upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
