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What Causes Intestinal Bleeding?

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Posted on Mon, 21 Apr 2014
Question: Hello, my father is 85 years he was hospitalized 3weeks ago for a lot of bloody very black diarrhea, treated him for diverticulitis, stomach ulcer went home 3 weeks later, was hospitalized again for vomiting blood, blood in stool, drs are scratching their heads with no answers as to where this blood is coming from they have done an upper GI , Nuclear scan, and test show nothing, still losing blood, have had 6 units of blood in 3 days, blood count was 9.1 yesterday, went to 7.2 over night, gave unit of blood, came up to 9.4 as of this morning. haven't done a colonoscopy for fear of rupturing the colon due to diverticulitis. Now they say May be a capillary that bleeds but can't find it. Thank you so much for any imput you may have... XXXX
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Answered by Dr. Ivo Ditah (36 minutes later)
Brief Answer: Please, let him do a capsule endoscopy! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this query. I am so sorry to hear about what your father is going through. For sure he has an intestinal bleed and the exact cause of this has not been established. Efforts should continue in this light. I will suggest that if he has not had a capsule endoscopy, he should be strongly considered for one. This consists in getting him to swallow a small camera that constantly takes images all along the digestive tract as it progresses from the mouth through the bowels to the anus. Though the quality of the images is less that those obtained during classical endoscopy, we stand a greater chance at identifying a possible lead area for a more focused investigation. When a client vomits blood, the chances of this actually coming from the colon are almost zero. Unless there is a generalized bleeding in the digestive tract, this blood is most likely coming from the upper part of the digestive tract. A colonososcopy would be helpful to say for sure it is not from the rectum but unlikely to show the source of bleeding given that he is vomiting blood. I understand how difficult and frustrating it can be to go through this with no exact diagnosis. For now, I will suggest that transfusion efforts should be continued hoping to pinpoint the origin of this bleeding and put a permanent end to it. I will also like to check with you whether he has a good clotting panel results or not. I will also prioritize fresh blood transfusion than stored blood. I hope this helps and adds something that can be consider in this ongoing efforts to identify the cause of this problem and treat it. I wish him the best of possible outcome and encourage you to stay strong through this difficult times. Thanks and feel free to follow up with us for more information and clarification if need be. Dr. Ivo, MD.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
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Dr. Ivo Ditah

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 3984 Questions

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What Causes Intestinal Bleeding?

Brief Answer: Please, let him do a capsule endoscopy! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for this query. I am so sorry to hear about what your father is going through. For sure he has an intestinal bleed and the exact cause of this has not been established. Efforts should continue in this light. I will suggest that if he has not had a capsule endoscopy, he should be strongly considered for one. This consists in getting him to swallow a small camera that constantly takes images all along the digestive tract as it progresses from the mouth through the bowels to the anus. Though the quality of the images is less that those obtained during classical endoscopy, we stand a greater chance at identifying a possible lead area for a more focused investigation. When a client vomits blood, the chances of this actually coming from the colon are almost zero. Unless there is a generalized bleeding in the digestive tract, this blood is most likely coming from the upper part of the digestive tract. A colonososcopy would be helpful to say for sure it is not from the rectum but unlikely to show the source of bleeding given that he is vomiting blood. I understand how difficult and frustrating it can be to go through this with no exact diagnosis. For now, I will suggest that transfusion efforts should be continued hoping to pinpoint the origin of this bleeding and put a permanent end to it. I will also like to check with you whether he has a good clotting panel results or not. I will also prioritize fresh blood transfusion than stored blood. I hope this helps and adds something that can be consider in this ongoing efforts to identify the cause of this problem and treat it. I wish him the best of possible outcome and encourage you to stay strong through this difficult times. Thanks and feel free to follow up with us for more information and clarification if need be. Dr. Ivo, MD.