Ulcer Disease

Peptic ulcer is the commonest cause of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding accounting for about 35-50% cases of non-variceal haemorrhage. It is responsible for a considerable clinical and economic burden and it is estimated that 1 billion of dollars is spent annually in the United States. The incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to peptic ulcer disease and hospital admissions for this acute complication have not changed significantly in the last two decades. The incidence varies from 50-150 cases per 100 000 per year and accounts for about 15000 hospital admissions per year in the United Kingdom. Similar incidence of 48-160 cases per 100,000 adults per year has been reported in the United States. The incidence is highest in areas of socioeconomic deprivation. The incidence of peptic ulcer bleeding is rising in the elderly patients. Despite recent advances in diagnosis and therapy, mortality rates for this life threatening entity remained essentially unchanged at 6-14% over the last two decades. This has been linked to the fact that patients are older and have associated multiple medical co-morbid factors that worsen the prognosis.

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Last date updated on May, 2024