| The skills and techniques used to open blocked arteries can also be used to “plug” bleeding arteries under different circumstances. Occasionally, peptic ulcer disease, gastritis or tumors can cause bleeding from the stomach or intestine. Other conditions such as diverticulosis, vascular malformation tumors, or inflammatory bowel disease can also cause bleeding in the large intestine.
The management of gastrointestinal bleeding requires a team approach involving the patient’s family physician, gastroenterologist, surgeon and interventional radiologist. Frequently, a gastroenterologist will perform endoscopy to search for the cause of bleeding and attempt to control the cause of bleeding utilizing various endoscopic techniques. Occasionally, in some patients in whom bleeding cannot be controlled endoscopically and in patients who are not surgical candidates, interventional radiologic techniques may be the best way to stop the bleeding. These techniques allow the placement of a catheter directly into the bleeding artery to identify the site of bleeding, and stop the bleeding either by infusing medications or by depositing small “plug-like” material to occlude these arteries.
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