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Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Initial treatment of internal bleeding will include stabilizing the patient, meaning that the ABCs of resuscitation take priority for the care provider.

• A: Airway. Patients with altered or decreased mental status may not be awake enough to breathe on their own.
• B: Breathing. Even if the airway is open, the lungs may not adequately be functioning and may need assistive care to allow oxygen to be transferred from the lung to the bloodstream.
• C: Circulation. The body requires blood to circulate to all its cells to provide oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste products. Treatment is aimed to maintain blood pressure and circulation. Often intravenous fluids only are required. Sometimes blood transfusion is needed. A few patients will require immediate transfusions with universal donor blood (type "O negative" blood).

Specific treatment for internal bleeding depends upon the source of the bleeding. The common goal for treatment is to find the source of bleeding and stop it. At the same time, treatment will be directed to repair or stabilize any damage that the bleeding caused.

Once the acute situation has resolved, treatment will try to correct the underlying cause of bleeding to prevent future episodes.

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