Bleeding duodenal ulcer in patients admitted to Erbil City Hospital, Iraq: 1996-2004

The frequency of bleeding duodenal ulcer was assessed in patients admitted with upper gastrointestinal bleeding to Erbil City hospital from the Emergency Department during 1996-2004. Of 740 such patients, 556 (75.1%) were diagnosed with bleeding duodenal ulcer: 312 (56.1%) were managed conservatively while 238 (42.8%) underwent surgery. Overall mortality over the 9 years was 4.7%. Over the 3 consecutive 3-year periods, mortality fell from 7.1% in the first 3 years to 2.2% in the final 3 years. Overall mortality among the 238 patients treated surgically was 8.4%. This fell from 13.3% in 1996-98 to 3.1% in 2002-04. Mortality in the conservatively managed patients was 1.9%.