Giant duodenal ulcer. Evaluation of basal acid output, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use, and ulcer complications.

Patients with giant duodenal ulcer (> 2 cm) have more ulcer complications (ie, bleeding) than patients with duodenal ulcer in the standard range (0.5-1.5 cm). To evaluate possible differences between patients with giant duodenal ulcer and those with duodenal ulcer in the standard range, we determined basal acid outputs by nasogastric suction, percentage of patients with daily nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) use, and percentage of ulcer complications in 184 patients with endoscopically documented active duodenal ulcer. Seventeen patients had giant duodenal ulcer, and 167 patients had duodenal ulcer in the standard range. The mean basal acid outputs for the 17 patients with giant duodenal ulcer was 7.9 meq/hr (range 0.0-27.8 meq/hr) and for the 167 patients with duodenal ulcer in the standard range was 9.0 meq/hr (range 0.0-49.1 meq/hr), which were not significantly different. There was a significant difference in the percentages of ulcer complications between the 17 patients with giant duodenal ulcer and the 167 patients with duodenal ulcer in the standard range: 65% compared to 25% (P = 0.001), and in the percentages of patients with regular daily NSAID use, during the one month preceding the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: 53% compared to 8% (P = 0.00001). However, a significant association between NSAID use and duodenal ulcer complication was not apparent. These results suggest that the development of giant duodenal ulcer and the significant increase in complications associated with giant duodenal ulcer are not attributable to increased basal acid output, however, they may be attributable to increased NSAID use.