Peptic ulcer disease in childhood in Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Over a 10-year period in a busy paediatric surgical unit, six children were operated upon for peptic ulcer disease, four of whom presented with complications (pyloric stenosis, two; perforation, one; bleeding, one). Truncal vagotomy with a drainage procedure was the operation of choice in five of the children in whom there were no complications. One child suspected of having Zollinger-Ellison syndrome had recurrence of symptoms. Symptoms of peptic ulcer disease in children are non-specific, and in our environment such symptoms are frequently considered to be due to parasitic infestation. Barium meal is not very sensitive in diagnosis in children, and the relative lack of availability of endoscopic services limits pre-operative diagnosis. It is suggested that peptic ulcer disease be considered in children who have persistent or recurrent abdominal pain of obscure aetiology.

Pattern and presentation of acute abdomen in a Nigerian teaching hospital

“…Perforated peptic ulcer disease (PUD) was the fourth common cause of acute abdomen. Although, duodenal ulcers were previously reported to be more common than gastric ulcers, 14 , 15 a rising incidence of gastric ulcers was reported by Ndububa et al , 16 at Ile-ife, Osun state in which there was similar incidence of duodenal and gastric ulcers. Better diagnostic procedures and NSAIDs abuse was noted to be responsible for the increasing incidence.…”

Perforated duodenal ulcer; management in a resource poor, semi-urban Nigerian hospital

“…Although experience from some parts of Nigeria showed that gastric outlet obstruction has overtaken PDU in incidence,[910] it is still frequently seen in many centers in Nigeria, as well as many centers in the developed world. [1–7] This study has also highlighted that the perforation affected mostly the younger age group (in their 3 rd -6 th decade) [Table 2], which is in keeping with studies in many centers in the developing world.…”