Document Detail


The hematocrit level in upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage: safety of endoscopy and outcomes.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21962318     Owner:  NLM     Status:  In-Data-Review    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: In patients with acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage, standard practice is to transfuse packed red blood cells, often to an arbitrary level of hemoglobin or hematocrit (typically 10 g/dL and 30%, respectively) before endoscopy. Therefore, we aimed to determine first whether performing endoscopy in patients with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage and a low hematocrit is safe and whether it predicts outcomes.
METHODS: This cohort study included patients with carefully defined upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage captured in our gastrointestinal Healthcare Registry who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Patients were placed into 2 groups: low hematocrit (<30%) or high hematocrit (>30%). Clinical variables and outcomes, including cardiovascular events, intensive care unit transfer, and death, were measured.
RESULTS: A total of 920 patients meeting entry criteria were identified. Baseline features among those with a low and high hematocrit were identical. Eight cardiovascular events occurred during or after esophagogastroduodenoscopy, including 5 of 587 (1%) in the less than 30% hematocrit group and 3 of 333 (1%) in the greater than 30% hematocrit group (P=.29). Blood transfusions were more common in the low hematocrit group (74% vs 24%, P<.001). However, correlation between the amount of blood transfused and hematocrit level was poor, and the number units of blood transfused was highly variable. There was no significant mortality difference in the 2 hematocrit groups.
CONCLUSION: Most patients with upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage presented with a hematocrit less than 30%. Performing endoscopy in patients with a low hematocrit was clearly safe; these data strongly imply that waiting for the hematocrit to reach a certain level before endoscopy is not necessary.
Authors:
Valeska Balderas; Rafia Bhore; Luis F Lara; Julia Spesivtseva; Don C Rockey
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  The American journal of medicine     Volume:  124     ISSN:  1555-7162     ISO Abbreviation:  Am. J. Med.     Publication Date:  2011 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-10-03     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0267200     Medline TA:  Am J Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  970-6     Citation Subset:  AIM; IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Affiliation:
Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, the University of Texas Southwestern Gastrointestinal Bleed Team, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center, the Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas, Tex.
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