Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Randomized and Controlled Clinical Trial of Transfusional Requirements in Patients With Acute Gastrointestinal Bleeding.
Brief Summary: Recently it has been suggested that a restrictive transfusion of units of Red Cells (URC) may improve the outcome of ICU patients with anemia. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the transfusion of URC may be deleterious for the hemostatic process of bleeding lesions, which suggest that a restrictive transfusion may be valuable in patients which gastrointestinal bleeding. Transfusion of URC may also increase portal pressure which may be detrimental to control acute portal hypertensive bleeding.

The aim of the present study is to assess whether a restrictive transfusions may improve the outcome of patients with acute nonvariceal gastrointestinal bleeding, and also whether such a restrictive strategy may improve the outcome of bleeding episodes related with portal hypertension.

The study will be carried out with a prospective, randomized and controlled design comparing the restrictive transfusion strategy with the usual nonrestrictive transfusional strategy. Overall 860 patients will be included; 430 in each group.

The main outcome measure will be survival. All deaths occurred within the 30 days after admission, will be considered. Secondary outcomes will include rebleeding and complications related to treatment, and related to the bleeding episode itself. Portal pressure will be measured to assess the influence of the transfusions strategy on fluctuations of this parameter, and the relationship with the clinical course of bleeding episode.

The study will be performed at the Bleeding Unit of our hospital during a period of 3 years.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* Variceal bleeding secondary to cirrhosis and portal hypertension
* Child's Class A or B cirrhosis of any etiology
* Patients who have failed endoscopic therapy (sclerotherapy or banding) of varices; or patients who are not candidates for endoscopic therapy

Exclusion Criteria:

* Prior shunt procedure
* Portal vein thrombosis
* Polycystic liver disease
* Intractable ascites
* Prior organ transplant
* Any medical intractable disease
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* All patients with acute upper GI hemorrhage who do not have any criterion of exclusion.

Exclusion Criteria:

* \< 18 years old.
* Pregnancy.
* Negative of the patient to receive transfusions.
* Negative of the patient to participate in the study.
* Patients with therapeutic restrictions (as terminally ill patients).
* Previous recent surgery requiring transfusion.
* Recent (less than 90 days) or unstable acute myocardic ischemia. Peripheral vasculopathy with secondary.
* To have been included in this same study in the 30 previous days.
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* All patients with UGI bleeding who are shown to have the findings of cirrhosis and esophagogastric varices or portal hypertensive gastropathy and require 2 or more units of blood transfusion will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

* None
D: Inclusion Criteria:

The study will include all patients with cirrhosis admitted to the hospital because an acute esophageal variceal bleeding defined according to Baveno II criteria (5) and who will achieve the following criteria:

* Failure to control bleeding despite pharmacological (somatostatin 3 or 6 mg/12h iv or terlipressin, 2mg/4h iv) AND endoscopic therapy (esophageal banding ligation preferably or sclerotherapy). Failure to control bleeding was defined, according to Baveno IV criteria (6), as evidence of continuous digestive bleeding and any of the following:

  * Hematemesis (or naso-gastric aspirate \> 100 ml of fresh blood) \> 2h after the start of combined pharmacological and endoscopic therapy.
  * Decrease in hemoglobin values \> 3g vs previous values (without blood transfusion).
* Massive bleeding. Acute variceal bleeding uncontrolled despite pharmacological therapy started at any moment, with no need of previous endoscopic therapy. Uncontrolled bleeding is defined as an upper digestive bleeding in which no hemodynamic stability (systolic arterial pressure \> 70 mmHg and heart rate \< 100 bpm) could be achieved.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Age \< 18 years.
* Esophageal rupture.
* Esophageal, gastric or upper respiratory tract tumor.
* Esophageal stenosis.
* Recent esophageal surgery.
* Previous esophageal tamponade to treat the index bleed.
* Big hiatal hernia precluding the correct placement of the esophageal devices.
* Known hepatocellular carcinoma surpassing Milan criteria.
* Terminal disease.
* No written consent to participate in the study.

Answer: B