Gastrointestinal Angiodysplasia: Diagnosis and Management

Abstract

Gastrointestinal angiodysplasia (GIAD) are red flat arborized lesions that are found throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract. GIAD can vary in size and have a range of presentation from occult to life-threatening bleeding. The typical presentation is intermittent bleeding in the setting of iron deficiency anemia. Endoscopy is the primary means of diagnosis and endoscopic therapy is noted to be initially effective. However, rebleeding can be as high as 40% to 50% in patients with small bowel GIAD. This review describes the pathophysiology for the development of GIAD and the current roles of endoscopic, medical, and surgical therapy in its treatment.

Keywords: Anti-angiogenic therapy; Capsule endoscopy; Deep enteroscopy; Gastrointestinal angiodysplasia; Rebleeding; Vascular endothelial growth factor.