Conservative Management of Asymptomatic Pneumoperitoneum; Report of Two Cases

Peptic ulcer disease is a common gastrointestinal disorder, the prevalence of which has reduced in recent years due to effective new treatments. Peptic ulcer perforation is an emergent life-threatening condition that causes pneumoperitoneum and septic shock. It often requires surgical procedures. We describe two cases of peptic ulcer perforation with only mild discomfort on the epigastric region since several months before. The patients were treated with a high dose proton pump inhibitor and conservative treatment without surgical procedures. Weekly follow up of the cases showed that the clinical condition of patients remained stable without any new signs and symptoms. This report shows that noninvasive treatment alone can be effective in some cases with mild symptoms.