Making the Diagnosis
If you have the typical symptoms of PUD, your doctor will perform a physical exam and may order one or more of the following tests:
A breath test (drinking a fluid and exhaling into a tube), a blood test, or stool test, may be used to check for H. pylori infection. If you have H. pylori, treatment may be given to cure the infection without the need for more invasive tests.
A series of GI (gastrointestinal) X-rays may be done. These are X-rays of your stomach, duodenum, and esophagus (the swallowing tube). To make the ulcer easier for the doctor to see, you'll first need to swallow a chalky liquid called barium.
Endoscopy is another test used to detect ulcers. After sedation, and sometimes numbing of the throat, the doctor carefully guides a thin tube with a tiny camera on its end into the mouth and down the throat to get close-up pictures of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum.
If ulcers are detected by these tests, then appropriate treatment will be prescribed.
Finally, all people older than 50 years who, for the first time, show symptoms suggestive of a stomach acid-related disorder, and anyone of any age with "alarm" features such as vomiting, bleeding, anemia, an abdominal mass, unexplained weight loss, or trouble swallowing should have an endoscopy to identify the cause quickly and to rule out cancer.