Diagnosis of Occult and Obscure Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Abstract

Occult and obscure bleeding are challenging conditions to manage; however, recent advances in gastroenterology and endoscopy have improved our diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. Obscure gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is an umbrella category of bleeding of unknown origin that persists or recurs after endoscopic evaluation of the entire bowel fails to reveal a bleeding source. This review details the evaluation of patients with occult and obscure GI bleeding and offers diagnostic algorithms. The treatment of GI bleeding depends on the type and location of the bleeding lesion and an overview of how to manage these conditions is presented.

Keywords: Angiography; CT; Deep enteroscopy; Iron deficiency anemia; Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding; Occult gastrointestinal bleeding; Video capsule endoscopy.