Causes Of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Hemetemesis is vomiting of blood which may be bright red or look like coffee grounds and Melaena means black stools with a characteristic smell of altered blood. Both conditions indicate upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The conditions that may lead to upper GI bleeding are summarized as follows:

Common causes:
Peptic ulcers
Mallory-Weiss tear
Esophageal varices
Gastritis / Gastric erosions.
Drugs like NSAIDs, aspirin, steroids
Esophagitis
Duodenitis
Malignancy

Rare causes:
Bleeding disorders
Portal hypertensive gastropathy
Aorto-enteric fistula
Angiodysplasia
Hemophila
Meckel's diverticulum