Clinical treatment of gastroduodenal bleeding

Our present study was conducted by cooperation between Departments of Internal Medicine and surgery of a hospital, which was highly significant because the results were comprehensive without a bias toward either department. The present report describes whether or not emergency operations have decreased because of progress in various conservative hemostatic methods for hemorrhagic ulcer and short-term and long-term prognoses after conservative therapy. Compared with the first 8-year period, the number of patients treated by conservative therapy increased with a definite decrease in that of emergency operations in the latter 8-year period. As for the results of conservative treatment, the rate of short-term prognostic hemostasis was 81.3%. Of the long-term prognostic cases, ulcers recurred in 50%, accompanied by recurrent bleeding in 34.8%. These patients were again treated by conservative therapy, and hemostasis was successful in 95.7%. The mortality rate following conservative therapy was 13.7% in the first period and 11.0% in the latter period. The surgical mortality rate was 6.0% in the first period and 5.4% in the latter period. There was no surgical death among the patients undergoing palliative operation. Our therapeutic policy for hemorrhagic ulcer will be described based on these findings.