Risk Factors for Gastrointestinal Leak after Operative Repair of Perforated Peptic Ulcer Disease

Background: Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a frequent outpatient diagnosis. Although medications and precautions haveadvanced to control this disease, the prevalence of PUD remains high. The complication of perforated peptic ulcer disease(PPUD) is the most common reason for urgent PUD surgery. Therefore, it is critical to determine the risk factors fordeveloping a postoperative leak.Objectives: This study aims to identify the risk factors for gastrointestinal leak after operative repair of PPUD to guidefor appropriate intraoperative decisions and postoperative care.Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 60 patients who had PPUD surgically repaired at a tertiarymedical facility. The possible risk factors for postoperative leak development were recorded. Age, sex, BMI, preoperativeusage of steroids, preoperative usage of tobacco, comorbidities, vital signs at admission, preoperative albumin, preoperativecomplete blood count, and perforation size were among the risk factors that were investigated.Results: In this study, the leak occurred among six (10%) patients, and a burst abdomen among four (5%) patients, while50 (85%) patients did not develop postoperative complications. Our results revealed that the risk factors after repair ofPPUD include older age (56.33±15.9 years), higher BMI (35.9±16.7 kg/m2), tobacco use, presence of comorbidities(Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and liver cirrhosis), and larger size of perforationat 3±3 cm.Conclusion: The study demonstrated that older age, higher BMI, tobacco use, the presence of comorbidities, and a largersize of perforation are risk factors for the development of leaks after operative repair of PPUD.