Ananthakrishnan AN, McGinley EL, Saeian K.
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2009;7:296–302e1.
[2] Weekend versus weekday admission and mortality from gastrointestinal hemorrhage caused by peptic ulcer disease.
Shaheen AA, Kaplan GG, Myers RP.
University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2009;7:303–10.
Editor’s note: Predictors of outcome for patients with gastrointestinal bleeding have been extensively studied and validated. Among the most important are older age, comorbidity, and endoscopic stigmata. Some of these have been successfully incorporated into clinically useful stratification systems to aid emergency room triage. In these two articles, another possible predictor of outcome, namely whether the patient is admitted to hospital on a week or weekend day, is discussed. The hypothesis that weekend admissions for upper gastrointestinal bleed are associated with worse prognosis compared with weekday admissions is based on existing literature demonstrating such a “weekend effect” for several other medical conditions.