Conservative vs. surgical treatment for complicated peptic ulcer disease

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Created On: 20/07/2026

Complicated peptic ulcer disease remains a key cause of morbidity and may present with life-threatening complications like perforation and bleeding.

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Key take away

Conservative treatment reduces hospital stay and procedure-related complications, while surgical treatment offers better disease control in severe complicated peptic ulcer disease, particularly perforated ulcers.

Background

Complicated peptic ulcer disease remains a key cause of morbidity and may present with life-threatening complications like perforation and bleeding. While many patients respond well to medical therapy and supportive care, others require surgical intervention to tackle severe disease. Determining the most appropriate treatment strategy according to the clinical presentation is essential for optimizing patient outcomes and minimizing complications. Hence, this study compared clinical outcomes of conservative versus surgical treatment.

Method

In this comparative observational study, A total of 120 patients (mean age 46.8 ± 13.5 years) with complicated peptic ulcer disease were allocated to either a conservative treatment group or a surgical treatment group. Researchers evaluated demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, type of ulcer complication, duration of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, disease recurrence, postoperative complications, and mortality. Statistical analysis was executed via Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Chi-square tests and independent-sample t-tests were applied, with p <0.05 deemed significant.

Result

Perforated ulcers occurred more frequently among patients who underwent surgery, whereas bleeding ulcers were more commonly tackled conservatively. Patients receiving conservative treatment experienced a significantly shorter mean hospital stay and ICU admission than surgically treated patients (Table 1).

Disease recurrence was higher following conservative management (22.4%), whereas wound infection occurred more frequently after surgery (17.7%). Mortality did not differ markedly between the two groups.

Conclusion

Conservative treatment was associated with reduced hospitalization and fewer procedure-related complications, while surgical treatment achieved superior disease control in severe complicated peptic ulcer disease, particularly perforated ulcers. Appropriate treatment selection according to disease severity is crucial to optimize clinical outcomes.