BACKGROUND:Dyspnea is one of the most common complaints facing the emergency medicine physician.Some of the gastrointestinal causes of dyspnea are self-limited and not lifethreatening,yet others are,and early diagnosi...BACKGROUND:Dyspnea is one of the most common complaints facing the emergency medicine physician.Some of the gastrointestinal causes of dyspnea are self-limited and not lifethreatening,yet others are,and early diagnosis and treatment are crucial.METHODS:In this article we presented one of these life-threatening conditions through a clinical description of a patient presenting with acute respiratory distress that was finally diagnosed to be the result of a perforated gastric ulcer.RESULTS:An emergent thoracotomy revealed a small ulcer with perforation in the fundus of the stomach.The patient was transferred after the operation to the intensive care unit and after a prolonged hospitalization discharged home.Biopsies taken from the ulcer showed diffuse inflammation,with no evidence of microorganisms or malignancy.CONCLUSION:Perforation of gastric and duodenal ulcers is a rare yet existing cause of dyspnea and respiratory failure and should be kept in mind by the emergency physician,especially when other more common causes are ruled out.展开更多
文摘BACKGROUND:Dyspnea is one of the most common complaints facing the emergency medicine physician.Some of the gastrointestinal causes of dyspnea are self-limited and not lifethreatening,yet others are,and early diagnosis and treatment are crucial.METHODS:In this article we presented one of these life-threatening conditions through a clinical description of a patient presenting with acute respiratory distress that was finally diagnosed to be the result of a perforated gastric ulcer.RESULTS:An emergent thoracotomy revealed a small ulcer with perforation in the fundus of the stomach.The patient was transferred after the operation to the intensive care unit and after a prolonged hospitalization discharged home.Biopsies taken from the ulcer showed diffuse inflammation,with no evidence of microorganisms or malignancy.CONCLUSION:Perforation of gastric and duodenal ulcers is a rare yet existing cause of dyspnea and respiratory failure and should be kept in mind by the emergency physician,especially when other more common causes are ruled out.
