Acute hemorrhagic gastritis--diagnosis and treatment.

Approximately 10-20% of patients admitted with acute gastrointestinal bleeding suffer from hemorrhagic erosive gastritis. A material of 36 patients is presented and the literature reviewed. The moderate bleeders stop bleeding within hours to a few days and the majority may safely be managed conservatively, i.e. with blood transfusions. The severe bleeders continue to bleed for a long time and surgery is often required. Different operative procedures have been suggested. The mortality in this group of patients is high--nearly 30%, and the frequency of postoperative rebleeding is also high. It is concluded that there is no absolute operative procedure of choice but vagotomy combined with subtotal gastrectomy offer the best protection against rebleeding. Treatment with selective application of vasoconstrictors is mentioned.