The main manifestations of ulcers are dyspeptic disorders and pain. Of all patients, 75% complain of pain in the upper half of the abdomen. Half of patients note pain sensations of medium intensity. About a third have severe pain, others have no symptom. The pain intensifies or begins to manifest after a load, after a spicy meal or in a long interval between meals. Often a symptom appears after drinking alcohol.
In the characteristic course of the disease, pain is clearly associated with eating. It appears when exacerbated and characterized by seasonality. Gastroenterologists explain how a stomach ulcer is manifested. In the spring or autumn, the pain worsens. After taking antisecretory or antacid preparations, food or soda drinks, the symptom becomes dulled. The disease is characterized by the appearance of heartburn, eructations, vomiting, an unpleasant feeling of overflow and swelling. Heartburn appears in almost all patients 3 hours after eating.
Belching can occur in half of patients, vomiting - at the peak of pain. Sometimes patients cause vomiting themselves, because after it the pain disappears. Half of patients suffer from constipation during exacerbation. As a rule, a pronounced loss of appetite and the appearance of diarrhea is not typical for ulcers. Manifestations of a stomach ulcer in a favorable course are limited to digestive disorders and pain. But there are also possible complications:
- wall break( perforation);
- bleeding;
- narrowing of the pylorus of the stomach;
- fixation of the ulcer to the proximal organ;
- inflammation of the underlying organs;
- degeneration into cancer.
If the patient started vomiting with blood or black feces appeared, then you need to urgently seek help. Such signs indicate the bleeding that occurs when the artery ruptures. If the stomach ulcer is sudden and acute in the abdomen, then it can speak of the destruction of all layers of the stomach and the release of the contents into the abdominal cavity. This is a threatening condition for the patient, as perforation results in peritonitis. Perforation often occurs after physical exertion, stress, overeating, drinking alcohol or drugs that destroy the mucous membrane. Patients with perforation and bleeding are urgently sent to surgery. When there is vomiting or burping with an unpleasant smell of rotten eggs, you need to know that the pyloric stenosis has developed. Usually this pathology appears after repeated multiple scarring or after surgery. Pain can occur with penetration, as a result of which the bottom of the ulcer is fixed to another organ( liver, pancreas or gallbladder).