Angiographic diagnosis and control of postoperative bleeding.

Abstract

The use of diagnostic and therapeutic angiography for postoperative bleeding which began with its application for bleeding following GI surgery can be ezpanded to almost all other areas of the body. Severe postoperative hemorrhage that previously required a second operation can now be successfully managed by the use of intraarterial or intravenous vasoconstrictors or transcatheter occlusion, thus significantly reducing patient morbidity and mortality. In those patients where a reexploration becomes necessary, diagnostic angiogarphy is a useful guide and helps to tailor the operative procedures.