OBJECTIVE

To study the incidence of peptic ulcers accompanied by gastrointestinal bleeding after surgery for critical lower limb ischemia and their relationship with the factors predisposing to mucous membrane damage.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study involved 94 patients with critical lower limb ischemia who were eligible for open bypass surgery. All patients underwent preoperative gastro- and duodenoscopy. The patients were followed up for 1 year, while the relationship between the nature of the lesion of the proximal gastrointestinal tract mucosa and the duration of pain syndrome against the background of ischemia, painkiller consumption and redo surgery.

RESULTS

All study participants had lesions of the mucous membrane of the stomach and duodenum: inflammatory changes were identified in 92.6% of patients, ulcerative defects in 7.4%. When conducting a correlation analysis, we obtained a weak and moderate strength of the relationship between the duration of rest pain and severity of mucous membrane lesion and strong correlation between painkiller consumption and endoscopic data. Postoperative gastrointestinal bleeding was more common after redo reconstructive surgery or amputation compared to one intervention (7.7% and 1.8%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Various lesions of gastrointestinal mucous membrane are diagnosed in all patients with critical lower limb ischemia. It is associated with the underlying disease and painkiller consumption. Risk of bleeding is higher after redo surgery and amputations. Prevention of lesions requires comprehensive examination of patients and individual approach.