Relationship between Pre-operative Bleeding and Perforation and Bleeding after Operations for Duodenal Ulcer.

Bleeding from a proved or probable stomal ulcer at some time after an operation for peptic ulceration often seems to be preceded by haemorrhage from the original, usually duodenal, ulcer. This association has been noted in the past (Hurst and Stewart, 1929; Donaldson, Handy, and Papper, 1958), but satisfactory evidence in its favour is lacking. The case histories of patients admitted to the Central Middlesex Hospital with bleeding following an operation for duodenal ulceration have therefore been reviewed and the frequencies of both preoperative haemorrhage and perforation in this test group have been compared with those in a control group of an unselected consecutive series of operations for duodenal ulcer.