Treatment and control of gastric ulcers

Gastric ulcers in swine appear to be caused by complex factors involving feed, management, environment, and possibly infectious organisms. Thus, it is unlikely that a single pharmaceutical product or management technique will control this problem on every farm. Control depends on a coordinated effort by feed providers, owners, production personnel, and herd veterinarians to ensure that feed preparation standards and management practices that limit gastric ulceration without reducing growth performance are achieved. Care must be taken to avoid overreacting to gastric ulceration and thus making management decisions that, in the final analysis, cost more than the disease itself. The danger with any type of intervention is that in solving the immediate problem, overall growth rate or performance may be reduced, thus decreasing the farm's profitability.