Abstract
Location of bleeding sites by endoscopy is difficult in small intestinal hemorrhage, and diagnosis is often difficult. Wide-ranging methods are available for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding, such as gastrointestinal imaging, endoscopy, contrast-enhanced CT, bleeding scintigraphy, and selective angiography. Patients presenting with massive melena require rapid identification of the bleeding source and hemostatic treatment. If the bleeding source is identified by abdominal angiography, hemostatic therapy can be administered by inserting a microcatheter into the blood vessel causing bleeding and then performing embolization ; diagnosis and treatment are simultaneously achieved.
We easily diagnosed the bleeding sites in 2 patients who underwent emergency abdominal angiography for small intestinal hemorrhage, embolization with a microcoil using a microcatheter before surgery, and laparotomy after confirming hemostasis for resection of the small intestine with bleeding source. We report these cases with a review of literature.
