[Gastrointestinal hemorrhage in neurosurgical patients].

Analysis of 445 fatal cases among which 21 were marked by profuse gastroduodenal hemorrhage showed that this complication develops in ulceration of the mucous-membrane in the upper parts of the digestive tract and occurs most frequently in affection of the hypothalamic region and brain stem. Gastrointestinal hemorrhages are caused to a certain measure by medication with massive doses of corticosteroids in the stage of tension of the general adaptation syndrome, hypoxia of the mucous membrane, azotemia, and other disorders of homeostasis. Gastrointestinal hemorrhages greatly aggravate the condition of neurosurgical patients, they are diagnosed with difficulty, and their prevention calls for a complex approach.