What Is the Difference Between Gastric Ulcers and Duodenal Ulcers?
Disease description:
I’ve been experiencing some discomfort in my stomach over the past couple of days. A colleague suggested it might be due to gastric ulcers, but after undergoing tests at the hospital, I was diagnosed with duodenal ulcers. What is the difference between gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers?
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Shen Yonghua
The key difference between gastric ulcers and duodenal ulcers lies in their anatomical locations. Gastric ulcers typically occur in the antrum or angular notch of the stomach, whereas duodenal ulcers are most commonly found in the duodenal bulb.
Symptomatically, gastric ulcers usually cause pain approximately 30 minutes after eating; this pain persists for 1–2 hours and then gradually subsides. In contrast, duodenal ulcers typically cause fasting-related pain, which often improves after food intake.
Gastric ulcers carry a risk of malignant transformation (i.e., progression to gastric cancer), whereas duodenal ulcers do not undergo malignant transformation.
