Duodenal ulcer in sickle cell anemia

A 14-year-old black male with sickle cell anemia developed a duodenal ulcer that masqueraded as sickle cell-related abdominal pain crisis on multiple occasions. Malingering and poor therapeutic compliance aggravated the ulcer in this patient, who ultimately succumbed to a catastrophic bleed. Duodenal ulcer appears to be an infrequent but difficult to treat lesion in sickle cell disease. An in-depth review on the occurrence of duodenal ulcer in sickle cell anemia is presented. The etiological mechanisms of peptic ulcer disease in this population and the potential benefits of transfusion therapy are discussed.