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Oakland score for lower GI bleeding
Identifies patients with lower GI bleeding who may be safe for discharge.
Oakland score for lower GI bleeding
Age
Sex
Previous admission with lower GI bleeding
Blood on digital rectal examination
Heart rate
Systolic blood pressure
Haemoglobin
Complete the fields above to see the result.
When to use
- Adults presenting with acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding, to identify those at low risk of adverse outcome.
Formula
Sum of points for age, sex, previous LGIB admission, blood on rectal exam, heart rate, systolic BP, and haemoglobin (range 0–35). A score ≤8 predicts safe discharge.
Pearls and pitfalls
- The original threshold for safe discharge is ≤8 points; some validations extend it to ≤10 to capture more low-risk patients.
- Haemoglobin dominates the score — a low haemoglobin alone can push a patient above the discharge threshold.