Patient Educating Points on Peptic Ulcer

Patient education regarding causes, risk factors, and therapy of peptic ulcer disease is very essential for peptic ulcer healing and for preventing ulcer recurrence. In this post, I’m focusing on 4 key points on peptic ulcer disease patient education. The aim of this post is to help healthcare professionals who deliver peptic ulcer disease patient education to be prepared with the required knowledge, and so to “be informative” for their patients.

1) Set treatment goals in participation with the patient: The main treatment goals for peptic ulcer diseases are:

• Relief of ulcer pain
• Healing of ulcer
• Preventing ulcer recurrence
• Preventing complication
• The patient should at least understand the importance of each of the previous goals.

2) Identify and modify risk factors:

This is achieved by: first, taking patient history regarding:

• Presence of other illnesses,
• Patient medication history; especially use of OTC drugs as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and use of corticosteroids,
• Lifestyle habits including diet, alcohol and cigarette smoking.
• Then, helping the patient to modify these risk factors. 
   For example, modifying NSAIDs administration for peptic ulcer disease patients who are in need for NSAIDs (ASPIRIN). Another example, offering advice regarding diet and foods to avoid by peptic ulcer patients.

3) Encourage proper medication use:

• Encourage compliance to the specified regimens (whether it is Helicobacter pylori eradication regimen, proton pump inhibitor PPI therapy, … etc.) and educate the patient about the potential peptic ulcer disease complications (bleeding ulcer – perforation of stomach or duodenum – gastric outlet obstruction) that might occur if these regimens are not followed properly. And make sure that the patient understands when to administer the medications. For example, PPIs should be administered 15-30 minutes before meals.
• Identify potential drug – drug interactions by referring topatient medication history. Among the important peptic ulcer medications that may cause drug interactions are proton pump inhibitors and H2-receptor blockers.
• Educate the patient about possible side effects that may make him/her stop taking the medications.

4) Always remember that good communication with the patient improves disease management.

Source: Zoomout-Ph

by

Dr.Akshaya Srikanth

Pharm.D

Hyderabad, India