ENDOSCOPIC STUDIES OF PEPTIC ULCER IN CHILDREN

Abstract

Twenty-four pediatric patients with peptic ulcer were endoscopycally diagnosed at the Japanese Red Cross Nagoya and Shizuoka Saiseikai Hospitals during the period from 1980 to 1987. Of these 24 patients, 4 had gastric ulcer, 19 had duodenal ulcer and 1 had both gastric and duodenal ulcers. The common symptoms of the patients were gastrointestinal bleeding (54%) and abdominal pain (25%), although abdominal pain was less frequent in the patients under 6 years old than in those over 6 years old. Predisposing factors were found in 18 patients, of which 6 had stress of school study and 3 had domestic trouble. Twenty-two patients were successfully treated with antacids and/or H2 blocker, and 2 patients with duodenal ulcer were subjected to surgical operation because of pyloric stenosis. We conclude that pediatric endoscopy should be more actively done for the early diagnosis of peptic ulcer.