1995 Volume 37 Issue 10 Pages 2262-2266_1
Acute hemorrhagic rectal ulcer (AHRU) occurs suddenly with painless, massive freshrectal bleeding in aged patients suffering from serious primary disease. AHRU was firstproposed by Kohno et al. in 1980. We assessed the clinical findings, endoscopic images andtherapies in seven patients with AHRU seen over the past five years. The clinical findingsand endoscopic images were similar to those reported previously. AHRU was assumed tobe caused by circulatory impairment of rectal mucosa due to advanced age, seriousprimary disease and bed-ridden condition as well as placement of an analgesic suppasitoryand constipation. Six patients who had an exposed vessel.received endoscopic localinjection therapy. However, since the therapy failed to produce sufficient hemostaticeffects in 4 patients, a hemostatic procedure by digital cornpression was also performed.All patients had reliable hemflstasis without any recurrent bleeding. Therefere, thehemostatic procedure by digital compression was considered very useful for the treatmentof AHRU.
