haemorrhage

bleeding - a flow of blood from a ruptured BLOOD VESSEL , which may occur externally or internally. A haemorrhage is classified according to the type of vessels involved: arterial H - bright red blood spurts in pulses from an ARTERY ; venous H - a darker coloured steady flow from a VEIN ; CAPILLARY L - blood oozes from torn capillaries at the surface of a wound. In addition, a haemorrhage may be primary, i.e. it occurs at the moment of injury. It is classed as reactionary when it occurs within 24 hours of an injury and results from a rise in BLOOD PRESSURE . A secondary haemorrhage occurs after a week or ten days as a result of infection ( SEPSIS ). Haemorrhage from a major artery is the most serious kind as large quantities of blood are quickly lost and death can occur within minutes. Haemorrhages at specific sites within the body are designated by special names, e.g. HAEMATURIA (from the KIDNEY or URINARY TRACT ), haemoptysis (from the LUNGS ) and HAEMATEMESIS (from the STOMACH ).