Should We Be Changing Our Operative Strategies for the Acute Complications of Peptic Ulcer Disease?

Abstract

H2‐receptor blockade for the treatment of peptic ulcer disease has been with us for over a decade and has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of operations being performed for chronic ulcer disease. Many surgeons feel that the swing away from ulcer surgery has gone too far.1 Nevertheless surgeons may have been slow to grasp the importance of H2‐receptor blockers in the management of the acute complications of ulcer disease.