Stomach bleed adults ‘could receive outpatient treatment’

UK hospitals could save money by treating patients with low-risk stomach bleeds as outpatients, a new report has claimed.

Some 103-172 per 100,000 adults per year are affected by stomach bleeds (upper-gastrointestinal haemorrhages), but the majority of patients do not require a blood transfusion or surgery and neither re-bleed nor die.

And, according to a study published in an upcoming edition of the Lancet medical journal, applying the Glasgow-Blatchford bleeding score (GBS) to patients with stomach bleeds can reveal that many are at low-risk and might be suitable for outpatient management.

Some 676 subjects with stomach bleeds were assessed with GBS at four UK hospitals, with 16 per cent found to score zero – therefore entirely suitable for outpatient treatment.

When GBS was introduced into clinical practice in two of these hospitals, 123 patients (22 per cent) with stomach bleeds were classified as low-risk, of whom 84 (68 per cent) were managed as outpatients without adverse events.

The amount of individuals with stomach bleeds admitted to hospital also fell from 96 per cent to 71 per cent.

Dr Adrian Stanley, of Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the study author, commented: “Our findings show that simple GBS low-risk criteria can identify a significant proportion of individuals presenting with upper-gastrointestinal haemorrhage who are suitable for outpatient management.”