Hemorrhagic gastric and duodenal ulcers after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster

AIM:To elucidate the characteristics of hemorrhagic gastric/duodenal ulcers in a post-earthquake period within one medical district.METHODS:Hemorrhagic gastric/duodenal ulcers in the Iwate Prefectural Kamaishi Hospital during the 6-mo period after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster were reviewed retrospectively.The subjects were 27patients who visited our hospital with a chief complaint of hematemesis or hemorrhagic stool and were diagnosed as having hemorrhagic gastric/duodenal ulcers by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy during a 6-mo period starting on March 11,2011.This period was divided into two phases:the acute stress phase,comprising the first month after the earthquake disaster,and the chronic stress phase,from the second through the sixth month.The following items were analyzed according to these phases:age,sex,sites and number of ulcers,peptic ulcer history,status of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection,intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,and degree of impact of the earthquake disaster.RESULTS:In the acute stress phase from 10 d to 1mo after the disaster,the number of patients increased rapidly,with a nearly equal male-to-female ratio,and the rate of multiple ulcers was significantly higher than in the previous year(88.9%vs 25%,P<0.005).In the chronic stress phase starting 1 mo after the earthquake disaster,the number of patients decreased to a level similar to that of the previous year.There were more male patients during this period,and many patients tended to have a solitary ulcer.All patients with duodenal ulcers found in the acute stress phase were negative for serum H.pylori antibodies,and this was significantly different from the previous year’s positive rate of 75%(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Severe stress caused by an earthquake disaster may have affected the characteristics of hemorrhagic gastric/duodenal ulcers.