Managing Dyspepsia in a Primary Care Setting

Abstract

Dyspepsia is a common presenting complaint in primary care. There are several treatment options available for the management of this condition, and the decision of which approach to take depends on the incidence of esophageal or gastric cancer in the community, patient demographics, patients’ level of concern regarding symptoms and availability of endoscopy services. There are no data that clearly indicate the superiority of one option over the others. However, it is agreed that any patient over 55 years of age or any patient with alarm symptoms should undergo prompt endoscopy for the purposes of excluding a GI malignancy.