Delay in discharge and its impact on unnecessary hospital bed occupancy.

Background: Elderly patients are potentially more vulnerable to prolonged hospital stay as they frequently require additional resources to facilitate their discharge. In an acute hospital setting, we aimed to quantify and compare length of stay (LOS) for all patients over and under the age of 65, and identify the number and cause of days lost under the care of a single surgical unit.

Methods: Over a 4 month period from January to April 2010, data on the management and source of potential delay was collected daily on consecutive patients admitted and discharged under the care of one consultant surgeon at a district general hospital.

Massive per rectal bleeding following blunt abdominal trauma: First presentation of Crohn's disease.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic and relatively common disorder with heterogeneous presentation. Peak incidence occurs in the second and third decades of life. We present a patient with Crohn's disease whose first presentation was profuse bleeding/rectum following blunt abdominal trauma.