Rare causes of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in infancy.

Gastrointestinal hemorrhage in children is a critical condition that demands quick and effective management. The differential diagnosis of gastrointestinal hemorrhage is wide. Heterotopic pancreas is a rare congenital anomaly and usually discovered incidentally. It is generally asymptomatic, but symptoms may occur when complicated by inflammation, bleeding, obstruction or malign transformation. Heterotopic pancreas may present throughout the gastrointestinal tract, but it is most commonly found in the stomach, duodenum and proximal jejunum. Juvenile polyps are common during childhood and present most often with painless rectal hemorrhage. They remain the most common colonic polyps in children. Colonoscopic polypectomy is the most effective procedure in the treatment of juvenile polyps. In this study, we describe rare causes of gastrointestinal system hemorrhage in infancy and discuss some diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.