• Bleeding in any segment of the gastrointestinal tract from esophagus to rectum.
  • Bleeding originating from any part of the gastrointestinal system.
  • Escape of blood from the vessels, or bleeding, in the gastrointestinal tract.
  • Vomiting blood.
  • Vomiting of blood that is either fresh bright red, or older "coffee-ground" in character. It generally indicates bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract.
  • Your digestive or gastrointestinal (gi) tract includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine or colon, rectum and anus. Bleeding can come from one or more of these areas. The amount of bleeding can be so small that only a lab test can find it. Gi bleeding is not a disease, but a symptom of a disease. There are many possible causes of gi bleeding, including
    • hemorrhoids
    • peptic ulcers
    • tears or inflammation in the esophagus
    • diverticulosis and diverticulitis
    • ulcerative colitis and crohn's disease
    • colonic polyps
    • cancer in the colon, stomach or esophagus
    the test used most often to look for the cause of gi bleeding is called endoscopy. It uses a flexible instrument inserted through the mouth or rectum to view the inside of the gi tract. A type of endoscopy called colonoscopy looks at the large intestine. nih: national institute of diabetes and digestive and kidney diseases