[Objectives in the therapy of ulcers]

The six aims of ulcer treatment are acceleration of healing, improvement of pain, prevention of complications and recurrences, avoidance of side effects of medical treatment, and reduction of the costs of treatment. The most important aims are prevention of recurrences and late complications. During acute exacerbation of the ulcer a favorable effect on ulcer symptoms is more important than acceleration of healing. It is now accepted practice that drugs with side effects should not be used in the treatment of ulcer. The costs of treatment are best reduced by the reduction of recurrences, irrespective of the actual cost of the drug used for this purpose