Glasgow-Blatchford Score

Risk stratify upper GI bleeding. A score of 0 identifies patients safe for outpatient management. High scores predict need for endoscopic intervention.

Indication

Risk stratify upper GI bleeding. A score of 0 identifies patients safe for outpatient management. High scores predict need for endoscopic intervention.

Criteria

id: sex; label: Sex; type: options; options: value: male; label: Male; value: female; label: Female
id: bun; label: BUN (mg/dL); type: number; placeholder: e.g. 25
id: hgb; label: Hemoglobin (g/dL); type: number; placeholder: e.g. 11
id: sbp; label: Systolic BP (mmHg); type: number; placeholder: e.g. 105
id: pulse; label: Pulse ≥100 bpm; type: yesno; points: 1
id: melena; label: Melena; type: yesno; points: 1
id: syncope; label: Syncope; type: yesno; points: 2
id: hepatic; label: Hepatic disease; type: yesno; points: 2
id: cardiac; label: Cardiac failure; type: yesno; points: 2

Clinical pearls

GBS is the best validated score for identifying low-risk UGIB patients safe for outpatient management
A score of 0 has NPV >99% for needing intervention
Do not use GBS to decide urgency of endoscopy in high-risk patients — use clinical judgment
GBS uses only clinical and lab data — no endoscopy required (unlike Rockall)

Source and review

Blatchford O et al. Lancet 2000. Last reviewed: 2025-01-01