Clinical risk stratification for gastrointestinal hemorrhage: Still no consensus

Abstract

A lack of consensus exists in the pre-endoscopic risk stratification of patients with upper or lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The work by Das and colleagues in the previous issue of Critical Care serves to externally validate the BLEED criteria. Their results suggest that hemodynamically stable patients without evidence of ongoing bleeding or unstable comorbidities may be at lower risk for hospital complications. While their results reinforce previous studies, further investigation is needed before comprehensive practice guidelines can be established. © 2008 BioMed Central Ltd.