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Angiodysplasia

Marie L Borum, MD, EdD, MPH, Zahra Saeed Almansoori, MD and Leen Raddaoui, MD Reviewed 04/2024
 


BASICS

  • The term angiodysplasia is used to describe the lesion or process whereby an abnormally formed (dys, “bad”; plasis, “molded”) vessel develops.

  • It refers to aberrant blood vessel formation within...

DIAGNOSIS

Most commonly discovered as an incidental finding during endoscopy 

HISTORY

  • Usually asymptomatic

  • May have overt rectal bleeding or melena

  • May have symptoms of anemia if bleeding is recurrent or ...

TREATMENT

  • Angiodysplasias incidentally found during GI evaluation for alternative reasons have minimal bleeding risk and should not be treated. Treat with supplemental iron if indicated.

  • Acutely bleedi...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Patients may require multiple transfusions.

  • Consider iron supplementation.

Patient Monitoring

Monitor for anemia: Check CBC intermittently for hemoglobin, hematocrit...

REFERENCES

1
Hochter W, Weingart J, Kuhner W, et al. Angiodysplasia in the colon and rectum. Endoscopic morphology, localisation and frequency. Endoscopy. 1985;17:182–185. 
2
Gurud...

ADDITIONAL READING

Notsu T, Adachi K, Mishiro T, et al. Prevalence of angiodysplasia detected in upper gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations. Cureus. 2021;13(4):e14353. doi: 10...

CODES

ICD10

  • K55.20 Angiodysplasia of colon without hemorrhage

  • K55.21 Angiodysplasia of colon with hemorrhage

  • K31.819 Angiodysplasia of stomach and duodenum without bleeding

  • K31.811 Angiodysplasia of stoma...

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Angiodysplasias are small vascular lesions along the GI tract. Mostly found in the cecum, proximal ascending colon and small bowel; may be the source of blood loss in cases of obscure ...

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