Upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage in the elderly: a record of 92 patients in a joint geriatric/surgical unit.

Ninety-two consecutive elderly patients suffering from acute gastrointestinal bleeding were studied over a 3-year period. All were admitted to a specially designated Geriatric/Surgical Ward under the care of consultant physicians in geriatric medicine. The nurses were trained to look after acute surgical and geriatric patients. Patients were aged between 65 and 93 years. All were managed jointly by the surgeons and physicians. Only 13 needed emergency surgery which was preceded by urgent endoscopy. The rest were managed conservatively with intravenous cimetidine and blood transfusions as required. The overall mortality was low at 5.4%. It is concluded that in a series of elderly patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding the mortality was not high in a unit where the management was conservative and there was joint care between geriatricians and surgeons.