Peptic ulcer bleeding in patients with and without dyspepsia.

In the present retrospective study the hospital records of all patients admitted to the University Hospital of Tromsø with their first ulcer bleeding during 1973-1985 were reviewed. The patients were grouped as dyspeptics and non-dyspeptics. The case history gave adequate information in 298 patients--243 with dyspepsia and 55 without. Pyloric ulcers were significantly (p less than 0.05) more frequent in the patients with dyspepsia than in those without (17.7% versus 5.5%), and the non-dyspeptic men were significantly (p less than 0.02) older than their dyspeptic counterparts (64.5 +/- 1.3 years versus 53.4 +/- 0.8 years). There were also significantly (p less than 0.01) more patients with chronic diseases among those without dyspepsia (49.1% versus 23.5%), whereas the consumption of anti-inflammatory drugs was fairly similar in the two groups.