Management of recurrent duodenal ulcer disease

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the medical and surgical treatment of patients with recurrent peptic ulcer disease and to determine whether the addition of cimetidine has altered the treatment outcome. The authors studied 42 patients with recurrent ulcers after duodenal ulcer surgery. Four patients underwent emergency operation for ulcer-related complications, while 38 patients received medical therapy including cimetidine as initial treatment. Medical therapy achieved good results in 18 of 38 patients (47%). The remaining 20 patients either were treated surgically (14) or are still symptomatic. Four of the 18 patients managed operatively had a second recurrent ulcer (22%). There were no deaths. Thirty-two of the original 42 patients (76%) were helped by the treatment. It was concluded that cimetidine has improved medical therapy compared with historical controls but that operative treatment is indicated in about one-half of patients with recurrent peptic ulcer disease.