[Surgical treatment of perforated gastric ulcer].

Introduction: Peptic ulcer perforation is a complication of ulcer disease which requires urgent surgical treatment. The aim of this paper was to point out our experience in surgical treatment of perforated peptic ulcer.

Material And Methods: This retrospective study analyzes results of surgical treatment in 365 patients with perforated peptic ulcer during the period January 1996 to December 2000.

Results: During the last 5-year period 365 patients were treated following peptic ulcer perforation. The average age was 43.53 +/- 8.26, with the span from 18 to 86. The most frequent surgical procedures in treatment of peptic ulcer perforation were: simple closure with biopsy (55.88%), excision of the ulcer with a pyloroplasty and vagotomy (35.29%) as nonresection surgical procedures and stomach resection after Billroth II (8.83%). The postoperative mortality was 4.41%.

Conclusions: The methods of choice in surgical treatment of gastric ulcer perforation are nonresection surgical procedures with drug therapy and eradication of Helicobacter pylori, if present.