Clinical presentation and patterns of peptic ulcerdisease (PUD) have changed because surival of people in Korea have increased. Other factors such as declining Helicobacter pyloriinfection rate and increased consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) including aspirin also affect the clinical patterns of PUD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current clinical characteristics of PUD in Korea. MATERIALS AND
A total 815 patients were recruited in this study. The mean age was 56.3+/-14.5 years old and 496 patients (60.9%) were men. The proportion of gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and combined gastric and duodenal ulcer was 57.3%, 32.1%, and 10.6%, respectively. H. pylori infection was detected in 548 patients (67.2%) and drug-related PUD was found in 278 patients (34.1%). Complication such as bleeding, obstruction, and perforation was found in 174 patients (21.3%).