Abstract

A total of 158 patients with acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage were studied, and the 53 patients on whom emergency endoscopies were performed were compared with the remaining 105. The cause of the bleeding was found in 51 of the endoscopy group and 39 of the control group. Three patients in the endoscopy group and 16 controls died. In the endoscopy group the correct preoperative diagnosis was made in all cases and there was less delay before operation. In the control group five patients had no diagnosis before operation, the preoperative diagnosis was wrong in nine, and five had laparotomies during which no cause of bleeding was found. The patients in the endoscopy group who did not have operations had a shorter stay in hospital than the controls.