Hemorragia digestiva: evaluación por angio-TC y entero-TC

Abstract

Gastrointestinal bleeding is frequent, resolving spontaneously in most cases. However, it can be intermittent or massive, leading to unstable hemodynamics, and risk of death. It is very important to get a fast and accurate diagnosis of site and cause of the bleeding, in order to treat it promptly. Due to the length and intermittency of the bleeding, sometimes multiple examinations are performed, leading to invasiveness and high costs to the patient. Endoscopy has been the standard of care for years, especially for high gastrointestinal bleeding. For active low GI bleeding, we recommend CT angiography as the first line study, because it is fast and accurate, and depending on the results continue with targeted endoscopy, surgery, angiography or others. CT enterography is recommended for stable or occult bleeding with negative endoscopic studies.