Clinical manifestations of retrobulbar duodenal ulcers

Retrobulbar duodenal ulcers are ulcers that occur behind the duodenal bulb, mostly in the descending and horizontal part of the duodenum. The main symptom of retrobulbar duodenal ulcer is limited epigastric pain that can radiate to the right upper abdomen and back, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, acid reflux, and heartburn. Some patients can develop diarrhea, such as steatorrhea. Posterior duodenal bulb ulcers can easily complicate gastrointestinal bleeding, and if the lesion affects the pancreas it can cause pancreatitis. It can also affect the common bile duct drainage, causing obstruction of bile duct drainage and consequently obstructive jaundice and cholangitis. Therefore, retrobulbar duodenal ulcers need to be taken seriously, although they are relatively rare clinically. Treatment of retrobulbar duodenal ulcers is mainly based on acid suppression therapy, either with proton pump inhibitors or H2 receptor antagonists. The main proton pump inhibitors include rabeprazole, pantoprazole, omeprazole, esomeprazole. H2 receptor antagonists are commonly used as ranitidine and famotidine, while gastric mucosal protective drugs can be taken for adjuvant therapy.