GI Bleeding After Stroke Raises Death Risk

health.yahoo.com — Stroke patients who develop gastrointestinal bleeding while in recovery are three times as likely to die in the hospital or be heavily disabled upon release than those who do not, a new Canadian study suggests. The finding is based on an analysis of patients who were observed while in recovery from an ischemic stroke. Ischemic strokes are the most common type of stroke -- resulting from a slowdown or blockage of blood to the brain. "We found that the actual incidence of gastrointestinal [GI] bleeding would make it an uncommon complication," said study author Dr. Martin O'Donnell, an associate professor in the department of medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. "But when it does arise, it appears to be associated with increased death and disability." O'Donnell and his colleagues are publishing their findings in the Aug. 6 online issue of Neurology. The authors focused on just over 6,800 men and women admitted to 11 Ontario hospitals between 2003 and 2006 following an acute ischemic stroke.

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