Acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) can lead to significant morbidity and mortality without appropriate treatment. There are numerous causes of acute GIB including infection, vascular anomalies, inflammatory diseases, trauma, post operative bleed and malignancy. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach of GIB depends on its location, severity, and etiology.
The role of interventional radiology becomes vital in patients whose GIB remains resistant to medical and endoscopic treatment. Radiology offers diagnostic imaging studies and endovascular therapeutic interventions that can be performed promptly and effectively with successful outcomes.
Computed tomography angiography and nuclear scintigraphy can localize the source of bleeding and provide essential information for the interventional radiologist to guide therapeutic management with endovascular angiography and transcatheter embolization.