Endoscopic healing stages of peptic ulcer: experience at Ife University Teaching Hospitals Complex

A great deal of information has been accumulated since 1829 on the clinical and pathological aspects of ulcer, yet there are still many variables and unknowns in the causes, healing, relapses and chronic changes, that it is almost impossible to predict precisely the outcome of an ulcer diathesis. The purpose of this communication is not to compare the efficacy of the more recent drugs in treatment of duodenal ulcers but it is to document our observations of the healing process of ulcers to the terminal scarring stage in sequence. Four hundred and twelve patients, 297 males and 115 females with endoscopic diagnosed duodenal ulcers were treated with ranitidine (50%), pirenzepine (36.40%) and rennie (13.60%). They were scoped at weekly interval till the end of the 8 week study. After 8 weeks 98.05% of the ranitidine group, 76% of the pirenzepine group and 33.92% of rennine fulfilled the endoscopic criteria of healed ulcer. It was established that there were two healing patterns of ulcers, namely the concentric and unidirectional. Deformity is commonly found in ulcers that healed unidirectionally. Those healed concentrically have only few cases of deformity. Based on our experience, it is being suggested that ulcers that healed with deformity will require a very long maintenance treatment. Whereas those that healed without deformity, will require a short-term maintenance treatment.