Controlled, semielective, segmental resection for massive colonic hemorrhage.

An aggressive diagnostic work-up to determine the site of bleeding was employed in all 25 patients requiring transfusion of over 1,500 cc of blood for colonic hemorrhage in New Haven in 1977 and 1978. A specific bleeding site that permitted segmental colectomy was found in 23 patients (92 percent). The mortality rate was zero, reflecting the rapid improvement in survival that has occurred in the last decade among patients with massive colonic hemorrhage.