Is gastric ulcer serious? Pay attention to complications

If you do not pay attention to your diet and love to eat sour, sweet, and spicy foods, it will easily irritate your stomach and cause gastric ulcers over time. If gastric ulcers are not treated, they will cause complications such as perforation, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and even cancer.

1. Upper gastrointestinal bleeding: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is the most common complication of ulcer disease. About 20% to 30% of ulcer patients have a history of bleeding. Duodenal ulcer bleeding is more common than gastric ulcer. According to statistics, among the various causes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, ulcer accounts for about 50%, ranking first. Most peptic ulcers with bleeding (about 80%) can stop on their own. About 30% can relapse after the first bleeding. 80% to 90% of re-bleeding occurs within 48 hours after the first bleeding. Gastric ulcers (32% to 48%) are more common than duodenal ulcers. Bleeding is prone to occur within 1 to 2 years after the onset of ulcer disease. About 10% to 15% of ulcer patients have bleeding as the first manifestation.

2. Ulcer perforation: Peptic ulcer perforation can be clinically divided into three types: acute, subacute and chronic. The incidence rate is 5% to 10%. The incidence rate of duodenal ulcer is higher than that of gastric ulcer.

3. Pyloric obstruction: About 10% of patients with ulcer disease may suffer from pyloric obstruction, 80% of which occur in duodenal ulcers, followed by pyloric canal or prepyloric ulcers. Pyloric obstruction is more common in the elderly, mainly in men. In recent years, due to the widespread use of various effective anti-ulcer drugs, this complication has been significantly reduced. Pyloric obstruction is of two types: organic and functional. The former is caused by submucosal fibrosis caused by chronic ulcers, leading to scar stenosis, which is ineffective for medical treatment and often requires surgical treatment. The latter is caused by congestion, edema and pyloric reflex spasm caused by inflammation of the tissues around the ulcer, and medical treatment is effective.

4. Canceration: Whether chronic gastric ulcers will turn into cancer is still controversial. Most scholars believe that gastric ulcers can turn into cancer, and the canceration rate is estimated to be 1% to 7%. Gastric ulcer canceration often occurs at the edge of the ulcer, and cancer cells can infiltrate between the connective tissue of the ulcer scar. Duodenal ulcers generally do not turn into cancer.