OBJECTIVE: To validate an early discharge policy in patients admitted with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) due to ulcers.
METHODS: Patients with gastroduodenal ulcer or erosive gastritis/duodenitis were included in a previous study aiming to develop a practice guideline for early discharge of patients with UGIB. Variables associated with unfavorable evolution were analyzed in order to identify patients with low-risk of re-bleeding. After that, a one-year prospective analysis of all UGIB episodes was carried out.
RESULTS: A total of 341 patients were identified in the retrospective study. Variables associated with unfavorable evolution were: systolic blood pressure < or = 100 mmHg, heart rate > or = 100 bpm, and a Forrest endoscopic classification of severe. 10% of patients were immediately discharged; however, if predictive variables obtained in the multivariate analysis had been used, hospitalization could have been prevented in 34% of patients. A total of 77 patients were included in the prospective analysis. Although only 19.5% of patients were immediately discharged without complications, 29 patients (37.7%) were theoretically suitable for early discharge.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with UGIB who have clean-based ulcers and are stable on admission can be safely discharged immediately after endoscopy. Implementation of the clinical practice guideline safely reduced hospital admission for those patients.

In a prospective study of 539 patients admitted because of hematemesis and melena the bleeding pattern before admission was compared with the findings obtained on emergency endoscopy and the subsequent clinical course. Ranked in order of prognostic importance, red hematemesis with melena, black hematemesis with melena, and red hematemesis alone increased the probability of massive hemorrhage. Moreover, black hematemesis with melena was the superior predictor of bleeding ulcer, the commonest lesion carrying the risk of massive hemorrhage. In contrast, in patients with melena or black hematemesis alone massive hemorrhage occurred comparatively infrequently. The order of prognostic importance was supported by the transfusion requirement. In screening for a potentially life-threatening ulcer hemorrhage, emergency endoscopy is recommended in patients with black hematemesis with melena or with red hematemesis with or without melena. In patients presenting with black hematemesis or melena alone endoscopy may be postponed to the next convenient daytime.

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