title: Pattern of peptic ulcer disease in Zaria, Nigeria.
abstract: The pattern of peptic ulcer disease in Zaria has been that of an increasing frequency of perforation, reaching a peak of 45% by 1983. In a retrospective study of 88 consecutive patients managed surgically for duodenal and gastric ulcers between 1984 and 1995, 41% had gastric outlet obstruction and only 17% had perforation. However, the ratio of perforated duodenal ulcer: perforated gastric ulcer has more than doubled from 2.6:1 to 6.5:1. Until now the pattern of peptic ulcer disease in northern Nigeria was different from that in southern Nigeria and most parts of black Africa but this review suggests a reversion to the pattern in these other places. Though these findings may be due to the effects of a changing economy, they may represent a change in the intrinsic behaviour of peptic ulcers in our environment. Ulcer perforation continues to carry a high mortality and truncal vagotomy and drainage remains the surgical treatment of choice for duodenal and gastric ulcers in our institution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ameh
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Nmadi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D017219:Gastric Outlet Obstruction / Q000209:etiology; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010439:Peptic Ulcer Perforation / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D014504:Urban Health