Background: Dyspepsia is a very frequent condition, affecting up to 50% of general population. Primary care is the logical setting for starting a management. In treating dyspeptic patients, it is a crucial point to distinguish between functional problems, common diseases such as reflux esophagitis or peptic ulcer, and life-threatening diseases such as upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. In Europe, there are different approaches to this problem. We describe the management of dyspepsia, with a particular focus on relationship between dyspepsia and gastric cancer.
Summary: Initial treatment of dyspepsia includes empirical treatment, noninvasive testing for Helicobacter pylori, and upper GI tract endoscopy. Treatment choice is based on different variables, including alarm signs, patient preference, and possibility to perform a gastroscopy. General practitioners are not allowed in all European nations to order a gastroscopy. This may have some reflection on quality of cure.
Key message: In European countries, there are heterogeneities in terms of gastric cancer incidence, mortality, and quality of cure. Awareness of them is a first step in identifying possible solutions.
Keywords: Primary care; Dyspepsia; Gastric cancer.
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