Nonulcer dyspepsia. Current concepts and management

NUD is a common heterogeneous condition with a multifactorial cause. NUD is a cause of considerable morbidity with an annual incidence of 8% and similar incidence of spontaneous resolution. Its economic effects are considerable. The estimated annual cost to the community of NUD is $431 per patient for the initial 6 months after diagnosis. The annual Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) expenditure on acid-related disorders in one Northern California HMO was estimated to be $59.4 million, of which NUD represented a significant proportion. The association of H. pylori infection with NUD is controversial. There are strong epidemiologic evidence and supportive pathophysiological mechanisms to implicate H. pylori causally in a subset of cases. Treatment studies are likewise conflicting. Evidence suggests that treatment cannot guarantee improvement in all cases of H. pylori-related NUD but that a subset would benefit with complete symptom resolution in the long term. It is not possible currently to predict which patients would or would not respond to eradication therapy. The strength of evidence is such that empiric eradication therapy, based on noninvasive H. pylori testing, can be advocated in young patients with dyspepsia safely and effectively with resultant financial savings.