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Anticoagulants are frequently used medications in diverse cardiovascular diseases. Their uses highly increase the risk of bleeding from upper and lower gastrointestinal sources, whether there is a classic vitamin K antagonist or a novel oral anticoagulant. Their interruption can promote procoagulation status with different thromboembolic accidents. Discontinuation of oral anticoagulants before the elective procedures is standardized but there are no guidelines for managing bleeding lesions of upper gastrointestinal tract concomitant with anticoagulation. Also, because some of the anticoagulants are new comers, there is no specific antidote, and so their anticoagulation effect cannot be antagonized fast in order to reduce the bleeding. Therefore, the endoscopic hemostasis must be definitive and efficient. This is a short review of the current management for the bleeding lesions of the upper gastrointestinal tract in patients taking oral anticoagulants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical scores, criteria and classification systems support clinical decision-making and management. They enable the clinician to predict the outcome, stratify risk, assess conditions and diagnose diseases accurately. In the emergency medicine, it is very important to ascertain safety criteria to discharge patients, time to remain in the E.R., and also ascertain the time intervals for discharge/admission. The use of the scores in the emergency medicine, toxicology and other areas of intensive medicine have become increasingly efficient. Creating a prognostic score for the acute intoxications to be used by the personnel from the Emergency Departments may have positive effects in the management of the poisoned patients (e.g. the admission in a certain treatment space: cases expected to have a trend towards worsening will be directed to the resuscitation space and after a short period of time admitted in the appropriate facility; this way, the bed occupancy time in the Emergency Department will be shortened). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Fecal transplantation was shown to effectively reduce the reoccurrence in patients with refractory Clostridium difficile infection. New data suggest that fecal transplantation could also be efficient in other gastrointestinal diseases, for instance in inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, but, there are also some data that could imply the efficacy outside the gastrointestinal tract. Fecal transplantation should be considered a unique agent, capable of treating severe diseases, with essentially no adverse reactions, presenting a cure rate of over 90%. Materials and methods. This prospective study included 33 patients, of whom 28 patients with recurrent or resistant Clostridium difficile infection, who failed to be treated with conventional therapy, which presupposed vancomycin administration and 5 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, more precisely with ulcerative colitis, refractory on biologic agents (infliximab and adalimumab). In most of the cases, fecal transplant was realized with the infusion of stool through colonoscopy. Results. Most of the patients from both groups (Clostridium difficile infection and Ulcerative Colitis) responded (31 patients) with a total relief of the symptoms, after 1 FMT for Clostridium difficile group and after more than one for the ulcerative colitis group. The so- called primary cure rate was 96.42% for Clostridium group. For ulcerative colitis, group 3 of the patients needed 3 or 4 infusions for symptom relief. One patient was categorized as non-responsive (patient with UC) and needed surgery. Due to non-fecal transplant related causes, one death was reported. Conclusions. Fecal transplant is highly effective, safe, with practically no adverse effects, inexpensive, a procedure easy to be done that could be introduced in Clostridium difficile treatment protocols. As for ulcerative colitis treatment with FMT, future randomized controlled trials are needed to prove its efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]