Treatment of chronic gastric ulcer a study of the treatment recived by 135 gastric ulcer patients in a western community.

A study was made of the treatment received by 135 gastric ulcer patients within one month and within six months of diagnosis. The treatment was divided into three types. Effective measures included surgery and those measures that have been shown favourably to influence the initial healing rate of chronic gastric ulcer (i.e. hospital admission and carbenoxolone sodium). Ineffective measures included those that have been shown convincingly not to accelerate ulcer healing--diet, antacids, sedatives and no treatmen at all. Anticholinergic drugs were included in the third group where the evidence is conflicting. The patient's therapeutic status was assessed one month and six months after diagnosis. Within six months of diagnosis only 32% of patients received treatment that clinical trials have shown favourably to influence the course of gastric ulcer and approximately half received treatment that has never been shown favourably to influence the course of gastric ulcer. The social class of the patients and whether they were seen by a consultant physicians or family doctor made no difference to the form of therapy received.