Hemorrhage

From ArticleWorld

A hemorrhage is a medical term used to describe bleeding of any sort. The bleeding can be severe such as that with the hemorrhage of esophageal varices or can be minor such as that with a subconjunctival hemorrhage of the surface of the eye.

Types

Hemorrhages can be internal and be seen only by means of medical testing, external, such as with the skin or some of both—a hemorrhage that starts internally and is soon visible on the outside of the body.

An internal hemorrhage can involve bleeding in a part of the brain, leading to an increase in the pressure inside the brain and to a “hemorrhagic stroke”. There can be bleeding from blunt trauma to any part of the body, including the extremities, leading to a hemorrhage and, in some cases, obvious bruising.

An external hemorrhage is usually from an open wound and the flow of blood occurs to the outside of the body. This is usually treated with some form of compression, with suturing or some kind of bandage. The exception is a subconjunctival hemorrhage that occurs when a blood vessel breaks between the outer clear covering of the eye and the white sclera beneath it, leading to a visible bleeding area but with no actual blood that can be touched or bandaged.

Many internal hemorrhages can begin internally but quickly reveal themselves on the outside. A gastrointestinal hemorrhage, if severe causes bloody vomiting or bloody diarrhea that is externally visible. Vaginal bleeding is also an internal form of bleeding that can quickly be seen externally.

Blood vessels

Generally, if the blood vessels involved are just small vessels or capillaries, then the hemorrhaging is slight and easily controlled. If big veins are involved, such as with dilated veins seen in esophageal varices, the bleeding can be severe and life-threatening. Arterial hemorrhages can be especially dangerous as arteries are under much greater pressure than veins and can bleed severely. An aneurysm is a weakening in the wall of an artery that can either rupture under high pressure or can cause bleeding between the layers of the wall of the artery causing arterial blockage.