Melena causes
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Melena Microchapters
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Melena causes On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Melena causes |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
The most common cause of melena is peptic ulcer disease. Any other cause of bleeding from the upper gastro-intestinal tract, or even the ascending colon, can also cause melena. Melena may also be a sign of drug overdose if a patient is taking anti-coagulants, such as warfarin. A less serious, self-limiting case of melena can occur in newborns two to three days after delivery, due to swallowed maternal blood.
Causes
The upper part of the GI tract will usually cause black stools due to:
- Abnormal blood vessels (vascular malformation)
- A tear in the esophagus from violent vomiting (Mallory-Weiss tear)
- Bleeding stomach or duodenal ulcer
- Inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis)
- Lack of proper blood flow to the intestines (bowel ischemia)
- Trauma or foreign body
- Widened, overgrown veins (called varices) in the esophagus and stomach