Diagnosis of Ulcer

In the last post we emphasized the need to rule out any heart related ailments if you have crossed 35 years of age and if your pain is more on the upper left side of the body closer to where your heart is. And we also added that if you have a family history of heart attack, hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes, and over and above if you also drink and smoke, then you get yourself checked for any heart related ailments first.

Once your medical report confirms that you do not have any heart related diseases, you can now get your medical checkup done to diagnose the presence of Peptic ulcer.

The only gold standard diagnostic methodology that is more accurate to find out the presence of Ulcer is ENDOSCOPY. An endoscope (a finger sized flexible tube with camera) inserted inside is the best method to check the presence of ulcer first hand. This method is medically referred as OGD, Oesophago-Gastro-Duodenoscopy. Advancement in technology has made endoscopes flexible and painless. Patients can virtually undergo Endoscopy in the morning and attend office almost immediately and can also take food normally.

Benefits of Endoscopy

• Endoscopy shows clearly where all ulcer has formed, only stomach or is present in food pipe, duodenum, or intestine too.
• It accurately shows the intensity of ulcer
• It helps the surgeon ascertain what kind of treatment is required and how long the treatment has to be planned.
• Sometimes the Ulcer is accompanied by internal bleeding which can be stopped when performing endoscopic procedures.
• It is important to ascertain the reason ulcer has occurred.
• It helps in the diagnosis of extra acid reflex and food pipe and stomach hernia
• It is also help in the diagnosis of Motility disorder
• While performing endoscopy, a piece of stomach tissue is removed to do a biopsy.

Why Biopsy?

• Though through the endoscope, ulceration on the walls of the stomach and duodenum can be seen, it is advisable to rule out the presence of Stomach cancer. Due to the fact that Stomach Cancer also shows similar symptoms of pain and has a similar ulceration of inner stomach, it is better to rule out the presence of cancer.
• If the Ulcer was due to infection of H. Pylori, the biopsy result along with the blood and stool test can confirm the presence of these harmful bacteria.