TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 6. Gastrointestinal Bleeding A1 - Hanna, Eyad A2 - Bishop, Warren P. PY - 2010 T2 - Pediatric Practice: Gastroenterology AB - Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding can be occult (not readily visible) or overt. This chapter will focus on overt GI bleeding that is acute or subacute. Separate chapters (e.g., Chapters 13 and 16) will cover aspects of chronic or occult GI blood loss in more detail. The source of visible blood in stool or vomit may be from the upper GI (UGI) tract, lower GI (LGI) tract, extraintestinal (e.g., swallowed blood from a nosebleed), or an exogenous substance (e.g., red-colored foods). Regardless of the source, obvious blood from the GI tract tends to be a very distressing problem for patients and their families that quickly bring them to medical attention. GI bleeding can be serious and life threatening. Thankfully, serious GI bleeding is uncommon in the pediatric age group and the problem often resolves without specific intervention. The key to approaching a patient with GI bleeding is a rapid assessment of the severity of bleeding and hemodynamic status of the child. Given the nature of the content, this chapter will focus on differential diagnosis, diagnostic approach, and treatment based on clinical presentation: hematemesis or coffee ground emesis, hematochezia, and melena. SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55944664 ER -