Prophylactic injection therapy is necessary for Forrest type 2b duodenal ulcers.

BACKGROUND We aimed to assess the effect of prophylactic injection therapy during the index gastroscopy on upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to Forrest type 2b duodenal ulcer. METHODS The patients who were admitted with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and who underwent emergency gastroscopy between January 2004 and January 2011 were recruited to the study retrospectively. Among those, the patients with Forrest type 2b duodenal ulcer were selected and divided into two groups. The patients in Group 1 had only diagnostic gastroscopy, whereas those in Group 2 had prophylactic injection therapy during the index gastroscopy. RESULTS Eighty-seven patients were included in the study. There were 41 patients in Group 1 and 46 patients in Group 2. There was a significant difference in the incidence of rebleeding (26.8% versus 6.5%, p=0.017). The mortality rate was similar in the two groups (9.7% versus 2.1%, p=0.184). CONCLUSION We recommend prophylactic injection therapy in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding who have Forrest type 2b duodenal ulcer.