Duodenal and gastric ulcers / [by William Pepper].

  • Pepper William, 1843-1898.
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Duodenal and gastric ulcers / [by William Pepper]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    1/16
    duodenal and gastric ulcers. Reprinted from “ The Journal of the American Medical Association,” May 25, 1889. I cannot altogether agree with those who think that, as regards the frequency of gastric ulcer, it is much more often suspected when it does not exist, than overlooked when actually present. But all are agreed as to the rarity of duodenal ulcers. Of this latter, it is doubtful if more than 70 authenticated cases are on record; while gastric ulcers, either cicatrized or open, are found in about 5 per cent, of persons dying from all causes. It may be very difficult to decide whether an ulcer which is believed to exist is gastric or duodenal in position. And this fact, coupled with the frequency of these ulcers, their danger- ous character, and the great importance of proper treatment, leads me to report to you some recent cases. It is true that you can diagnose gastric ulcer with confidence in cases attended with character- istic paroxysmal circumscribed epigastric pains extending through the back, coming on after eat- ing, and disappearing only when the stomach is emptied by vomiting ; with localized tenderness ; with frequent vomiting, hyperacidity of the contents of the stomach, and with recurring haemorrhages of bright blood in varying amount, with or without bloody discharges from the bowels. But it must be remembered that such