Clinical aspects of pathology of the upper gastrointestinal tract in military personnel of the North Caucasian District of the Russian Guard, participating in combat operations

BACKGROUND: The use of modern technology and weapons forces us to reconsider classical approaches to the prevalence and understanding of the specifics of the existing pathology of participants in hostilities and providing them with medical care. AIM: To study the prevalence of pathology of the upper gastrointestinal tract in servicemen of the North Caucasian District of the Russian Guard, participating in hostilities, and their clinical features. DESIGN OF THE STUDY: 118 participants in combat operations were examined, all men aged 21 to 65 years, 48 officers and 70 military personnel of the contract service with a background mild surgical and therapeutic pathology and a burdened gastroenterological history. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using the variable frequency method in the MedCalc Statistical Software version 22.009 (MedCalc Software Ltd, Ostend, Belgium; https://www.medcalc.org; 2023). RESULTS: In patients participating in combat operations (at р 0.0001), acute and chronic erosive and ulcerative destructive damage to the mucous membrane in the gastrointestinal tract prevails (61%), chronic superficial gastritis occurs in 19%, GERD in 15% and functional dyspepsia in 5%. Among officers, acute gastric erosions, combined erosive-ulcerative pathology and chronic gastritis were more common; among contract military personnel, chronic duodenal ulcers, the erosive form of GERD, chronic gastritis and combined pathologies predominated. CONCLUSION: Participants in combat operations are susceptible to erosive and ulcerative lesions in the gastrointestinal tract and require close attention with an emphasis on a group of officers, as well as the creation of modern clinical and diagnostic programs for the early detection of diseases of the upper parts of the digestive organs to prevent delayed complications.