Endovascular Treatment of Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Acute gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a common medical emergency that varies from minor to potentially life-threatening bleeding. Endoscopy is a first-line diagnostic procedure for both upper and lower GI bleeding. Therapeutic options for the treatment of acute GI bleeding include conservative management, therapeutic endoscopy, transcatheter embolization, and surgery. Transcatheter embolization and surgery are both options for recurrent GI bleeding when therapeutic endoscopy fails; however, both options are associated with several complications and the risk of rebleeding. The choice of management depends upon the status of the patient. Emergency surgery is typically associated with high rates of morbidity and death. Recently, superselective transcatheter embolization has become a safer procedure and is now widely used for the management of acute GI bleeding. This review article describes the role of interventional radiology in the management of acute GI bleeding.