Abstract

Stress ulcer is encountered in cases of major trauma, surgery, and extensive burns. Mortality rates has ranged from 80 to 100 % in intensive care units. H2 blockers, endoscopic tecniques, pirenzepin, tranexamic acid, and transfusion which are applied as medical therapy are not successful in decreasing the mortality rate bellow 50% Somatostatin was introduced to the clinical management of stress ulcers relying on its inhibitory effect on the gastrointestinal tract. Immobility stress was applied on 30 male Sprague -Dawley rats in three groups. 1-Control group (n:10), 2-Stress + Ranitidine (50 mg/kg) group (n:10), 3-Stress + Somatostatin (20 microgram/kg) group (n:10). Significant statistical Depth of the mucosal erosion was measured by the light microscope. Ulcer index was found by taking the percentange of the ulcerated area to the total surface area of the stomach. Significant statistical difference was found between the control group, and the ranitidine and somatostatin groups (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two medication groups.