Emergency operations for bleeding duodenal ulcer: a simple option to consider: Case report

ABSTRACT

We report a 46 years-old man who had severe bleeding from a posterior duodenal ulcer [DU] that was diagnosed but could not be treated endoscopically in another health facility. He went into shock as he was being admitted to the casualty at Khartoum North Teaching Hospital [KNTH]. His haemoglobin [Hb] dropped to five gram/dl. He required resuscitation and transfusion of six units of blood overnight. Emergency surgery was performed. Over sewing [OS] of the ulcer was done and the stenosed first part of duodenum was closed transversely [pyloroplasty]. No acid-reducing procedure [ARP] was done. The patient received anti- helicobacter therapy via the intravenous route preoperatively and continued postoperatively. This was later given orally after he started taking by mouth. He made an uneventful recovery with no recurrence of bleeding and was discharged home one week latter. Endoscopy was done at KNTH six weeks later. This showed complete healing of the ulcer with no evidence of Helicobacter pylori in the biopsies taken. We found simple OS of the bleeding DU together with anti-helicobacter therapy safe, efficient, and not associated with re-bleeding. We discuss the rationale of this simple treatment. We propose the need for a randomized controlled study comparing it with acid-reducing procedure [ARP] as options in the surgical treatment of bleeding DU