Symptoms of gastric ulcer perforation

There are many gastric ulcers in our lives. Patients with gastric ulcers generally feel stomach pain when the disease occurs, and they often have acid reflux when eating, so the patients will take some stomach-nourishing drugs, such as omeprazole. If it is just a gastric ulcer, it can be cured through conditioning and medication, but if it is a gastric ulcer perforation, it is more serious. So what are the symptoms of gastric ulcer perforation?

1 Severe abdominal pain

The pain of gastric ulcer itself is mostly dull and generally tolerable. However, once perforation occurs, the gastric contents quickly enter the abdominal cavity and directly stimulate the peritoneum, leading to acute peritonitis. Sudden severe pain like a knife cut or tearing occurs in the abdomen, and most of the time it is persistent. The pain starts in the upper abdomen and then spreads throughout the abdomen. Due to the severe pain, most patients dare not change their body position at this time. Deep breathing and coughing can aggravate the pain, and the pain can radiate to the shoulders and back. In addition, in the elderly and frail, the pain from gastric perforation may not be obvious or severe.

2. Nausea and vomiting

After gastric ulcer perforation, about half of the patients will reflexively cause nausea and vomiting. The vomitus are mostly food residues mixed with blood or coffee-like liquid. If the disease progresses to intestinal paralysis, the vomiting will be more severe.

3 Neurogenic shock

The severe stimulation after gastric ulcer perforation can cause the patient to have symptoms of shock such as irritability, pale complexion, sweating all over the body, cold and clammy skin, decreased body temperature, increased pulse, and decreased blood pressure. However, it is worth noting that 1-5 hours after perforation, the abdominal pain in some patients may be relieved and the shock symptoms may improve on their own due to the increase of peritoneal exudate, which dilutes the gastric contents flowing into the abdominal cavity. It is easy to misdiagnose or miss the diagnosis at this time.

4Infection and high fever

If the perforation is not treated correctly and promptly within 1-2 days, diffuse peritonitis will worsen and the patient will become seriously infected, with high fever, rapid breathing, and a rapid pulse, and may even develop paralytic ileus, sepsis, septicemia, infectious toxic shock, and even death.