What should the teaching plan be for a patient with a gastrointestinal bleed?

A special diet can help treat GI conditions and prevent problems such as GI bleeding. Eat small meals more often while your digestive system heals. Avoid or limit caffeine and spicy foods. Also avoid foods that cause heartburn, nausea, or diarrhea.

What do you give for a GI bleed?

medications

Proton Pump Inhibitor: If upper GI hemorrhage possible, give IV proton pump inhibitor.
Octreotide: If variceal hemorrhage is possible, give octreotide (50 microgram bolus followed by 50 mcg/hr infusion).
Antibiotic: Cirrhosis plus GI bleeding equals antibiotics (usually ceftriaxone 1 gram daily).

How much blood is considered a massive transfusion?

Massive transfusion, historically defined as the replacement by transfusion of 10 units of red cells in 24 hours, is a treatment for massive and uncontrolled hemorrhage.

When is a GI bleed an emergency?

If you have symptoms of shock, you or someone else should call 911 or your local emergency medical number. If you’re vomiting blood, see blood in your stools or have black, tarry stools, seek immediate medical care. For other indications of GI bleeding, make an appointment with your doctor.

Are there any blood transfusions for gastrointestinal bleeding?

A concise outline of clinical management strategies for managing acute upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding without allogeneic blood transfusion. This document contains links to more than 500 authoritative references in peer-reviewed medical literature.

What should I do if I have GI bleeding?

Patients presenting with GI bleeding should undergo a directed history and physical examination to look for clues that suggest whether the bleeding source is in the upper tract, colon, or possibly the small bowel, as well as a possible etiology for the hemorrhage.

Which is the best transfusion strategy for exsanguinating bleeding?

Transfusion may be lifesaving in patients with massive exsanguinating bleeding. However, in most cases hemorrhage is not so severe, and in such circumstances the safest and most effective transfusion strategy is controversial. 2,3 Restricted transfusion strategies may be appropriate in some settings.

How many units of blood do you transfuse for GI?

Half of the patients in the restrictive-transfusion strategy did not receive any blood at all during their clinical course for acute GI bleeding; the average number of units transfused was 1.5 vs. 3.7. Blood transfusion practice has always been guided above all by tradition, emotion, and whim of the treating physician.

What should the teaching plan be for a patient with a gastrointestinal bleed? A special diet can help treat GI conditions and prevent problems such as GI bleeding. Eat small meals more often while your digestive system heals. Avoid or limit caffeine and spicy foods. Also avoid foods that cause heartburn, nausea, or diarrhea. What…