Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Diagnosis

Mayo Clinic doctors start by asking you about your symptoms and doing a thorough physical examination and blood tests. This initial exam may be enough to indicate a cause of GI bleeding.

But if the source isn't obvious, Mayo Clinic doctors can use sensitive imaging technologies to find it. Results from one procedure determine the next procedure to use until the cause of the GI bleeding is determined.

Mayo doctors use these tests:

• Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). A scope is used to inspect your esophagus, stomach and upper part of the small intestine (duodenum). The doctor may remove a small tissue sample (biopsy) for further study.
• Colonoscopy.
• Capsule endoscopy. You swallow a small pill containing a video camera, which transmits images of your small intestine to a recording device.
• Balloon-assisted enteroscopy. A wireless scope inspects parts of your small intestine that EGD and colonoscopy can't reach.
• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). An ultrasound probe attached to an endoscope allows doctors to see all the layers of tissue in the digestive tract.
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). An X-ray procedure that visualizes the ducts of the liver and pancreas.


MCTE image of a hemangioma in the small bowel.

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• Multiphase CT enterography (MCTE). Mayo researchers helped develop these noninvasive radiologic tests, which are more sensitive than conventional X-rays for finding the source of GI bleeding. MCTE can image the entire thickness of the bowel wall, all of the long loops in the small intestine, and surrounding tissue.
• Angiography. A contrast dye is injected into an artery and a series of X-rays are taken to look for a bleeding vessel or other abnormalities.

If your GI bleeding is severe, and noninvasive tests can't find the source, you may need surgery so doctors can view the entire small intestine.

Read more about endoscopy and colonoscopy.