Perforated peptic ulcer - The Lancet.
Peptic ulcer disease is common condition throughout the world. In United States alone around 4 million individuals are affected. An estimated 15,000 deaths per year occur as a consequence of complication of peptic ulcers. Peptic ulcer can occur at any age, although they are rare in children.
Prevention of peptic ulcer disease for those who are taking NSAIDs (with low cardiovascular risk) can be achieved by adding a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), an H2 antagonist, or misoprostol. NSAIDs of the COX-2 inhibitors type may reduce the rate of ulcers when compared to non-selective NSAIDs.
A peptic ulcer, also called peptic ulcer disease, is a defect in the gastric or duodenal mucosa extending to the submucosa. The duodenum is the very first part of the intestines that attaches.
John M. Connors, in xPharm: The Comprehensive Pharmacology Reference, 2007. Epidemiology. It has been estimated that 10% of the population in Western countries will develop a peptic ulcer at some point in their life Rosenstock and Jorgensen (1995).In Western countries, duodenal peptic ulcers occur more often than gastric peptic ulcers, while in Japan gastric peptic ulcers predominate.
However, complications related to peptic ulcer disease continue to occur and include bleeding, perforation, and gastric outlet obstruction. An understanding of surgical management remains important since surgery is the mainstay of emergency treatment of these life-threatening complications and for disease that is refractory to medical management.
There are some measures to decrease the risk of peptic ulcer disease and perforation since about 30% of patients with perforated peptic ulcer is taking NSAID. Use of these drugs should be lessened or at least use concomitant anti-ulcer medications smoking cessation and abstinence from alcohol should also increase the risk of complicated peptic ulcer.
One type of ulcer you can’t see is a peptic ulcer. You can get them in your stomach or the upper part of your small intestine. For most people, stomach pain is the first clue they have one.