Endoscopic Evaluation of Peptic Ulcer Disease During Ramadan Fasting

The effects of fasting on peptic ulcer disease were evaluated in a prospective study, involving 23 fasting patients who underwent endoscopy before and after Ramadan. Eighteen patients took an H(2)-blocker (ranitidine, 150 mg twice daily) regularly at "Suhur" and "Iftar" as prescribed, while 5 were drug defaulters. On the first endoscopy the diagnosis in 4 patients was active acute duodenal ulcer (AADU), in 8 patients was active chronic duodenal ulcer (ACDU) in 8 patients was healed duodenal ulcer (HDU), in 2 patients was erosive duodenitis (ED), and in 1 patient was chronic gastric ulcer (CGU). All of the patients with AADU showed signs of healing on repeat endoscopy. None of the ACDU patients showed signs of healing on repeat endoscopy. Instead, 7 patients in this group bled during fasting. All of the 5 drug defaulters belonged to the ACDU group. One patient in the HDU group had developed an active ulcer near the previous scar, as which was seen on repeat endoscopy. The 2 patients with ED showed signs of healing, while the only patient with CGU had bled from the same ulcer as seen on repeat endoscopy. The results were compared with those of 15 nonfasting control subjects (6 patients with ACDU, 3 with HDU, and 6 with ED as diagnosed on the first endoscopy), who took an H(2)-blocker regularly. The repeat endoscopy did not show any change in these patients. In conclusion, we inferred that Ramadan fasting may prove hazardous in patients with peptic ulcer disease in general and with active chronic ulcers in particular, although the fact that only 23 patients volunteered for this study, of whom 5 were drug defaulters, is a limitation.