The most problematic and dangerous complications of peptic ulcer are perforation and perforation. In the first case, through the through holes formed, the contents of the stomach enter the abdominal cavity, resulting in a person experiencing a severe "dagger" pain, which can lead to shock and loss of consciousness. In the second case, the complication of the ulcer is also associated with a violation of the integrity of the gastric walls, but the acid with the remains of un-digested food does not fall into the peritoneum, but into neighboring organs, such as the pancreas, liver, gall bladder, omentum, intestine, etc. Both complications of peptic ulcerstomach require emergency surgery.
Perforation is especially dangerous, because already 12 hours after fistula formation, peritonitis develops. The food that has entered the abdominal cavity begins to rot, the pathogenic bacteria multiply rapidly in it, and if the patient does not receive prompt surgical treatment, then after 72 hours he dies.
Penetration occurs as a result of soldering the walls of the stomach with adjacent organs, causing the ulcer spreads to them. The main symptoms of the complication are agonizing acute pains, which are most often manifested at night. Anesthetics do not help, and the only way to treat the disease is by surgical intervention. And although penetration is considered a less dangerous problem than perforation, not timely access to a doctor can be fatal, especially when the pancreas is affected.
What other complications of ulcers occur?
Complications of peptic ulcer also include internal bleeding, pyloric stenosis, and sub-diaphragmatic abscess.
Internal bleeding that occurs at both the initial and advanced stage of the disease can be recognized by black feces or coffee-colored vomit. Plus, a person feels dryness in the mouth, a slight chill and a general weakness. When blood loss becomes significant, anemia develops, in which there is pallor, cold sweat, nausea and dizziness. In such situations it is necessary to conduct an accurate diagnosis as soon as possible and to prescribe the appropriate treatment, therefore, in no case should you delay the visit of a doctor.
A very dangerous complication of an ulcer is a subdiaphragmatic abscess, in which pus accumulates between the diaphragm and the adjacent organs. Such a pathology is rare enough, being, as a rule, a consequence of perforation or spread of infection through the lymphatic system. Diagnosis of this complication of peptic ulcer is extremely problematic, since the abscess is very difficult to detect. But if it is not opened within 20-30 days, blood is contaminated, which leads to a lethal outcome. The main symptoms of the sub-diaphragmatic abscess are: sluggishness of the patient, general weakness of the body, loss of appetite, pain in the right hypochondrium, giving to the shoulder.
Stenosis of the pylorus can be called the most "harmless" complication of the ulcer. But, of course, treatment and this pathology must begin as early as possible. And although it is in the gatekeeper( the final part of the stomach) that the disease most often develops, stenosis( narrowing and deformation of the canal, through which food from the stomach enters the duodenum) develops only after many years after the appearance of the ulcer. You can recognize the problem by feeling full of the stomach, even after a light meal, not passing and after a long time after eating. Heaviness in the abdomen is accompanied by pain, the person is tortured by an acidic eructation with an unpleasant odor, and in the late stages of complication there are constant emetic urges, which bring relief, but deplete the body.
The latest complication of peptic ulcer is gastric cancer, which is very difficult to treat and often leads to the death of the patient. In most cases, malignant ulcers are diagnosed in people who have suffered from pathology for many years, but persistently do not want to go to the doctor or do not follow the endocrinologist's prescriptions.