Evaluation of Boey scoring in predicting morbidity and mortality in peptic ulcer perforation peritonitis

Abstract

Among abdominal emergencies, perforations of peptic ulcer are third most common in frequency, after acute appendicitis and acute intestinal obstruction. The prevalence of peptic ulcer disease ranges from 5 to 15% in the western population. Perforation being the most dreaded complication, occurring in about 2–10% of peptic ulcer cases. Inspite of better understanding of the disease, effective resuscitation and prompt surgery under modern anaesthesia techniques, there is still high mortality and morbidity in perforated peptic ulcer with mortality rate ranging from 5% to 15%. Prompt recognition of the condition and early surgery are very important to reduce the mortality. In our study, we stratified the patients with perforated peptic ulcer peritonitis according to Boey score and found a significant relationship between increasing Boey score with higher rates of post-operative morbidity and mortality. The study also demonstrated that using a simple clinical scoring system in surgical emergency room proves critical to reduce the chances of morbidity and mortality among patients with perforated peptic ulcer peritonitis.