Surgery treatment of stomach ulcers

Oxford Medical provides emergency and planned surgical treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcer. Modern expert-class equipment of the surgical in-patient department allows to carry out surgery of any level of complexity.

The method that is most used in planned treatment is endoscopic or laparoscopic approach to the damaged organ. These are minimally invasive operations that allow to minimize the damage to the healthy tissues. As a result, the period of hospitalization and rehabilitation becomes shorter. Ulcer perforation, internal bleeding and other complicated conditions may require laparotomy – an open access surgery.

The clinic employs top-category surgeons with years of expertise and provides all the necessary conditions for surgical treatment and risk minimization. Among other things we have intensive care unit equipped with medical ventilators and devices for maintaining vital life functions.

After the surgery, patients are moved to a single or double hotel-type room, where they stay under permanent observation of the medical staff.

Ulcer is a disease that causes the appearance of ulcerative defects in the inner lining of the stomach and duodenum. Its most common symptoms are pain in the central, right, or left part of the abdomen (depending on ulcer’s location), heartburn, belching, nausea, and vomiting.

In more than 90% of cases, the cause of ulcer development is the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. Among additional risk factors – genetic predisposition, unbalanced diet, long-term use of hormonal drugs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

With the development of the disease, the patients are usually prescribed pharmacological treatment, such as antibacterial drugs, medications to reduce hyperacidity of the stomach, enzymes to improve digestion, and prokinetics to normalize gastrointestinal motility, as well as they are recommended to follow a special diet.

In case of untimely treatment, this disease may cause serious complications, depending on ulcer’s location and size, the patient’s age, and general medical condition.

Among the complications of gastric and duodenal ulcer:

• Internal bleeding – ulcer’s increasing and deepening may cause rupture of the blood vessels (most common in elderly patients).

• Ulcer’s perforation – the formation of a through-hole in the walls of the damaged organ, which increases the risk of peritonitis (the inflammation of the abdomen).

• Ulcers’ penetration – the formation of the opening in the walls of stomach or intestines, entering the nearby organ (large intestine, pancreas, liver).

• Pyloric stenosis – a narrowing of the opening, through which the food goes from the stomach to the intestine, caused by scarring of the ulcer located in the final part of the stomach and small intestine. 

In these cases, patient needs urgent hospitalization and emergency surgical treatment.

In most cases of the peptic ulcer, the conservative treatment proves effective. But in approximately 10% of the patients, it doesn’t bring the desired result, and in this case, they need surgical treatment.

Indications for surgery:

• ulcer’s perforation

• massive internal bleeding

• recurrent gastroduodenal bleeding

• callous and penetrating ulcers

• multiple ulcers of big size

• pyloric stenosis

• suspected ulcer malignancy (development of the malignant transformation)

• massive tissue scarring that impedes the movement of food from stomach to intestine

• ineffectiveness of the conservative treatment

• recurrent relapses of the disease

In case of ulcer’s perforation, internal bleeding that cannot be stopped by conservative methods, and other complications, the surgery is performed urgently.

Other conditions are indications for planned surgical treatment.

In each separate case, the doctor decides the advisability of surgery, considering its potential benefit and possible risks. 

For the diagnostics of gastric and duodenal ulcer, the patient may be prescribed following procedures:

• Helicobacter Pylori analysis and other lab tests

• abdominal ultrasound

• X-ray

• Computed tomography

• Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (endoscopic examination of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum)

Based on the examination results, the doctor makes an accurate diagnosis and chooses the treatment method.

Before the surgery, the patient may be also prescribed ECG, fluorography, and additional blood tests (general blood test, blood clotting test, test for infections etc.). It is also recommended to follow a special diet and perform bowel cleansing. The patient will get all the necessary instructions from the doctor before hospitalization.

Before recommending the surgical treatment, the doctors of Oxford Medical carefully examine the patient and prescribe pharmacological treatment. The surgery is performed in case of lack of response to conservative treatment or the development of complications. In these cases, whenever possible, the surgeons perform minimally invasive organ-preserving operations that guarantee the desired healing effect and fast rehabilitation.

Oxford Medical is a modern medical center with more than 10 clinics in Kyiv, a big surgical in-patient department, emergency department for patients in an acute state, and ambulance service.

In Oxford Medical there are all the necessary conditions for accurate diagnostics and effective treatment. In particular, the surgery is performed in a high-tech surgical in-patient department with two operational units. The installed equipment and the team of qualified surgeons with years of expertise allow to perform minimally invasive as well as open access surgery.