The effect of systemic corticosteroids on the incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding in critically ill adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

We observed an overall low incidence of clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding among adult critically ill patients. Corticosteroids may slightly increase the incidence of clinically important gastrointestinal bleeding, but not bleeding of any severity. Rarity of events, infrequent trial reporting and high risk of bias reduced the quality of evidence.