Diagnosis and treatment of dyspepsia in the elderly

Although dyspeptic symptoms are very common, the vast majority of patients have modest symptoms and rarely seek medical advice. The major organic causes of dyspepsia are chronic peptic ulcer disease, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and malignancy. Functional dyspepsia is very common. In the fit elderly patient, prompt investigation may be more appropriate than empirical treatment in view of the higher proportion of patients with organic disease and the likelihood of malignancy. The symptoms of peptic ulceration and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease are often atypical in the elderly population. Frail patients, especially those with multiple pathology, should be treated empirically in the first instance. Empirical treatment should be with histamine H2-receptor antagonists or prokinetic agents. Drug treatment is not always required in dyspepsia and should be avoided where possible, especially given the increased risk of drug interactions and poor compliance in the elderly. For those patients with documented non-malignant organic disease, the advent of the H2-receptor antagonists, proton pump inhibitors, prokinetic drugs and regimens which eradicate Helicobacter pylori means that treatment is almost always successful.