Obstruction from a peptic ulcer can be serious and painful
Approximately ten percent of Americans will suffer a stomach ulcer at some point in their lives, according to the Mayo Clinic. We now know that H pylori is the bacterial culprit responsible for so many people's misery---despite the previous medical belief that stress and spicy food were responsible for ulcers. For most patients, the pain and discomfort of an ulcer can be easily treated via a combination of medications centering around an antibiotics regimen. Sometimes some changes in diet and lifestyle accompany.
However, a small percentage of ulcer patients may develop bleeding ulcers and other complications which may lead to obstruction of the digestive tract. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, about 30 percent of patients who go to the hospital with a bleeding ulcer end up undergoing surgery.
Vagotomy Recovery Time
There isn't one standard surgery for obstruction. Doctors have several avenues and approaches they may take based on the case and the health of the patient.
A vagotomy, one of the more common surgeries, removes the vagus nerve which is responsible for triggering stomach acid production. This procedure is typically followed by a seven day hospital stay and a six week total recovery.
Pneumatic Balloon Dilatation Recovery
The less traumatic pneumatic balloon dilation procedure involves using endoscopic equipment to open up constricted pyloric pathways. Because of the lack of surgical wounding, this procedure has a relatively easy recovery of a few days to a week.
Stents and Cancer
Sometimes stomach or pyloric ulcers accompany and are really secondary to cancer. In these cases, doctors treat the obstruction which does relieve some of the symptoms related to the ulcer. But in reality, it has a lot more to do with the malignant tumor in the stomach or duodenum.
In such cases, physicians like to use stents which can expand and contract on their own to try to keep the pathway open and prevent blockages from forming. Stent placement can be done endoscopically and without wound or trauma. Therefore, recovery can be less than a week in a relatively strong patient.
New Approaches
Amazingly, the discovery of H pylori as the cause of stomach ulcers came within the last decade. Previously, medicine believed stress and perhaps spice sensitivity fueled the production of stomach acid and that the stomach acid burned holes in the stomach and duodenal linings.
Under the old assumption, surgeries were a more attractive option to a condition thought to be incurable by drug and other medical therapy. Today, doctors do whatever they can to take advantage of effective drugs which include antibiotics, acid blockers, proton pump inhibitors and antacids to kill off the infection and allow the stomach to heal itself.
Warnings
Blockages related to ulcers can be serious. In fact, they can be a sign of serious problems that only add to the pain of ulcers. Blockages may also indicate polyps, benign or malignant, and other colon gastrointestinal cancers. They may also indicate bleeding or perforated ulcers which may be acute and life threatening.
If you have signs of blockage and severe pain, see a physician. Make sure to get thorough testing and understand how any and all factors may contribute to your need for surgery and the recovery that may follow.
