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Content Update: Oakland Score as risk tool for LGI Bleeding July 2020
The Oakland Score has been validated in a retrospective study of 46,128 patients at 140 US hospitals. A score of ≤ 8 has a sensitivity of 98.4% and specificity of 16% for safe discharge of patients with LGI bleeding. Although the Oakland score can help risk stratify patients with LGI bleeding for discharge, clinical judgement along with shared decision making should be used for final disposition. See the risk score and discussion under Disposition and Followup.
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INTRODUCTION AND EPIDEMIOLOGY
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Historically, lower GI bleeding is the loss of blood from the GI tract distal to the ligament of Treitz. However, management and outcomes differ if the bleeding originates from the small intestine compared with the colon.1 Nevertheless, lower GI bleeding is a common problem in emergency medicine and should be considered potentially life threatening until proven otherwise.
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Lower GI bleeding occurs more often than upper GI bleeding, with an annual incidence of approximately 109 per 100,000 and a mortality of <1%.2 Because blood must travel through the upper GI tract down to the lower GI system, upper GI bleeds are the most common source for all causes of blood detected in the lower GI system. Among patients with an established lower GI source of bleeding, the most common cause is diverticular disease, followed by colitis, hemorrhoids, and adenomatous polyps/malignancies.3
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About 80% of episodes of lower GI bleeding resolve spontaneously.4 However, one cannot predict which episodes will spontaneously resolve or which episodes will result in complications. This is partly due to the difficulty in establishing a pathophysiologic diagnosis. In one study, a cause for bleeding was found in <50% of the cases.5
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Hematochezia is either bright red or maroon-colored rectal bleeding. If hematochezia originates from an upper GI source, it indicates brisk upper GI bleeding, which may be accompanied by hematemesis and hemodynamic instability. Approximately 10% of hematochezia episodes may be associated with upper GI bleeding.6 Melena is dark or black-colored stools and usually represents bleeding from an upper GI source (proximal to the ligament of Treitz) but may also represent slow bleeding from a lower GI source.
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Diverticular bleeding is usually painless and results from erosion into the penetrating artery of the diverticulum. Diverticular bleeding may be massive, but up to 90% of episodes will resolve spontaneously. Bleeding can recur in up to half of patients.7,8 Although most diverticula are located on the left colon, right-sided diverticula are thought to be more likely to bleed.9 Elderly patients with underlying medical illnesses, those with increased needs for transfusion, and those taking anticoagulants or NSAIDs have increased morbidity and mortality.7
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Vascular ectasia, which includes arteriovenous ...