Home > Encyclopedia of Medicine > Ulcer Surgery

Definition

Ulcer surgery is a procedure used to cure peptic ulcer disease when medications have failed.

Purpose

Ulcer surgery is used to relieve a present peptic ulcer disease and to prevent recurrence of it.

Surgery is usually required if the ulcer is in one of the following states:

• perforated and overflowed into the abdomen
• scarred or swelled so much that the bowel is obstructed
• acute bleeding
• defied all other types of treatment

The need for ulcer surgery has diminished greatly over the past 20–30 years due to the discovery of two new classes of drugs and the presence of the causal germ Helicobacter pylori in the stomach. The drugs are the H2 blockers such as cimetidine and ranitidine and the proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole. These effectively arrest acid production. H. pylori can be eliminated from most patients with a...