Exams and Tests

Although not all peptic ulcers are caused by bacteria, it's getting more common to do a test for Helicobacter pylori whenever someone has ulcer symptoms. This includes testing your blood, breath, stool, or a sample of tissue from your digestive tract (biopsy).

An endoscopy may be done so that a doctor can:

• Look at the inside of your stomach and your upper small intestine to check for an ulcer.
• Collect a tissue sample (biopsy) that can be tested for H. pylori or cancer.

If you are older than 55, you may need an endoscopy because of a higher risk for stomach cancer. This is especially true if you have:

• Ulcer symptoms for the first time.
• Ulcer symptoms that return before or after treatment is completed.
• A family history of stomach cancer.
• Other symptoms that may point to a more serious problem, such as stomach cancer. These include:
  • Blood in the stool.
  • Weight loss of more than 10% of body weight.
  • Anemia.
  • Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia).
  • Jaundice.
  • Abdominal mass.

Other tests that may be done include:

• Fecal occult blood test (FOBT). This test may be done to detect blood in the stool, which may be caused by a peptic ulcer or another serious problem, such as colon cancer. By itself, an FOBT cannot diagnose peptic ulcer disease, but it may show if an ulcer is bleeding.
• Complete blood count (CBC). This blood test may be done to look for anemia, which may be caused by a bleeding ulcer.
• Upper GI series. This X-ray exam of the esophagus and stomach may be used to diagnose peptic ulcer disease, although this test is being used less frequently.