A Simple Discriminatory Test for Upper Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage

Abstract

THE proper management of a patient with acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage depends upon the prompt localization of the source. In the experience at this hospital, about a third of the patients with this type of hemorrhage proved to be bleeding from esophageal varices.¹ If this diagnosis could be established or eliminated, the problem would be greatly simplified. Both direct esophagoscopy and roentgenologic visualization of the upper gastrointestinal tract are frequently unsatisfactory or even impossible in the patient with continuing massive hemorrhage. Tests of liver function, such as the percentage of bromsulfalein retention, have proved unreliable (Fig. 1).Recent studies from . . .