Major gastrointestinal bleeding occurring after liver transplantation.

The incidence, frequency, and sites of major gastrointestinal bleeding occurring after successful liver transplantation are reported. Only 2.3% of liver transplant recipients experience a major gastrointestinal hemorrhage characterized by clinical hypotension or a need for more than three units of blood over a 12-hour period. Bleeding rarely occurs from a lesion identified pretransplantation. Most bleeding episodes, although clinically significant, can be managed without additional surgery unless liver graft failure occurs, necessitating a second liver graft.