Bleeding peptic ulcer - time trends in incidence, treatment and mortality in Sweden.

Abstract Background: The incidence of peptic ulcer disease was expected to decrease following the introduction of acid inhibitors and H. pylori eradication. Aim: This study analyses possible changes in the incidence of bleeding peptic ulcer, treatment and mortality over time. Methods: Residents of Malmö hospitalised for bleeding gastric or duodenal ulcer disease1987-2004 were identified in hospital databases (n=1610). The material was divided in 6-year periods in order to identify changes over time. All patients who had been submitted to emergency surgery (n=137) were reviewed. Results: The incidence rate for bleeding gastric or duodenal ulcers decreased by one half in males and by one third in females and emergency operations decreased significantly (9.2, 7.5 and 5.7% during the three time periods respectively (p<0.05). The postoperative mortality tended to decrease (9.7, 2.4 and 3.7% respectively) and the 30-day mortality rates in the whole material were 1.2, 3.6 and 3.4% during the different time periods. Conclusion: The incidence of bleeding gastric and duodenal ulcer disease has decreased markedly. Operative treatment has been replaced by endoscopic treatment. The bleeding ulcer related mortality was less than 4% and has not changed over time.